A retailer displays a pomegranate produced in southern Afghan province of Kandahar, in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on Nov. 10, 2023. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
Pomegranate growers in Afghanistan are hoping that Afghan pomegranates will enter the Chinese market -- a market with huge potential -- through the sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE).
by Xinhua writers Zhao Jiasong, You Zhixin
KABUL/SHANGHAI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Afghan farmer Sayed Mohammad has been thinking about investing more in his orchard since the newly-harvested pomegranates were shipped to China's Shanghai for a large exhibition.
Mohammad and his fellow villagers were cheered by the debut of Afghanistan's pomegranates during the sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE), which concluded in east China's metropolis of Shanghai on Friday.
"I have harvested 10 acres of pomegranates (since this year). It is very good to send pomegranates to China, because not only the (Afghan) farmers but the whole country and the people would benefit from it if our pomegranates were exported to China," said Mohammad, who lives in the Arghandad Valley of the southern Kandahar Province, a major pomegranate producing area in Afghanistan.
A retailer displays a pomegranate produced in southern Afghan province of Kandahar, in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on Nov. 10, 2023. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
For Afghans, late autumn is the season of pomegranates. Whether in Kandahar, Kabul, or counties in the northern mountains, vendors selling fresh pomegranates and juice of the fruit can be seen everywhere on the streets.
In Shanghai, thousands of miles away, Afghanistan's pomegranates also attracted a large number of Chinese visitors to the expo and many tasted the fruit on the spot.
To offer convenience to overseas exhibitors, Chinese authorities have opened a green channel to facilitate customs clearance for this year's CIIE. In this case for Afghan businessmen, their pomegranates, which had not officially received quarantine access, were allowed to be exhibited during the expo with special approval.
"Thanks to this new policy, Afghanistan's pomegranates will appear at the CIIE for the first time," Ali Faiz, an Afghan exhibitor and founder of Biraro Trading Company.
An Afghan pomegranate is displayed at the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, on Nov. 6, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)
Faiz said he wanted to introduce Afghanistan's pomegranates to the Chinese market through the CIIE platform, which will help more Afghan farmers benefit from the trade with China and thus improve their living conditions.
For Faiz, it was his fourth trip to the CIIE. Previously, he exhibited carpets, pine nuts and other Afghan products from his hometown.
"This year, we shipped 200 kg of pomegranates. This batch of pomegranates was transported by land from Kandahar to Kabul, and then by air from Kabul to Dubai, and finally arrived in Shanghai," Faiz said.
In 2020, Faiz participated in the CIIE for the first time with more than 20 Afghan hand-woven carpets, whereby he received more than 2,000 orders from customers all over China, and some 2,000 Afghan households could earn a full year's income.
Faiz added that he hoped that the pomegranates could also become another signature product of the country like their renowned fine carpets via the CIIE.
According to Afghan fruit dealers, pomegranates are one of the most profitable crops for the country's farmers, with higher economic value than grapes, apples and other traditional fruits grown in the mountainous country.
Merajudin Amiri, Faiz's business partner, has been engaged in fruit and nut trading since 2006.
"Kandahar's pomegranate output has reached 150,000 tonnes so far this year. Pomegranates are profitable for farmers," said Amiri, who is based in Kabul.
An Afghan farmer packages pomegranates at an orchard in Arghandab district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on Oct. 21, 2019. (Photo by Sanaullah Seaim/Xinhua)
He noted that the pomegranates from Kandahar suffer few diseases and local farmers do not need to spray many pesticides on them.
Amiri was also delighted to see the pomegranates' debut in the expo.
"We want to see more expansion and development in trade between Afghanistan and China," he said.
Amiri said a more prosperous pomegranate-growing business in Afghanistan will make a huge difference in the war-torn country nowadays, considering the long history of opium poppy cultivation in the country.
According to farmers in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, since the Afghan caretaker government's ban on poppy cultivation came into effect in April 2022, many farmers who used to plant opium poppy, once a cash cow for locals, have switched to wheat, pomegranate and other crops.
"If Afghan pomegranates enter the Chinese market -- a market with huge potential -- through the CIIE, more farmers are more willing to choose to grow pomegranates, and more pomegranate plantations will appear in Afghanistan," Amiri said.
"I hope more Chinese friends can taste our pomegranates. China is our good neighbor and the Chinese will help us improve our economy and stand on our feet," he said. ■
