KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Collecting bunches of grapes and putting them on the ground to dry in his vineyard in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, Qudratullah lamented that so far this year he has been incurring continued losses due to a lack of market and border closure.
Describing the grape garden as the only source of his income, the bearded gardener complained that the closure of the border at Spin Boldak crossing has led to a substantial fall in fruit prices and eventually undermined the locals' revenue.
"I am hopeful to see the border reopened to resume export of our fruits. The people of Afghanistan are very tired and deserve to benefit from their economic resources," Qudratullah told Xinhua recently in his grape garden.
"I am drying the grapes to turn them into raisins with the hope of selling them at a reasonable price, which is for the benefit of both the gardener and the daily laborer," the gardener said.
The export of grapes to Pakistan, according to the locals, has drastically dropped because of the border closure at Spin Boldak crossing.
The major and busy Spin Boldak crossing point, which connects Afghanistan to neighboring Pakistan via Kandahar province in the southern region, has remained closed for nearly the past 10 months, adversely affecting trade relations between the two nations.
Echoing a similar feeling, another fruit trader, Abdul Baqi Bana, said that the border closure had hugely reduced grape exports to other countries.
"So far this year we have exported 740 tons of grapes, while last year we exported more than 44,000 tons of grapes, mostly to Pakistan," Bana revealed.
"Unfortunately, the border closure has adversely affected the people on both sides," claimed the businessman.
The border closure has forced both the grape traders and vineyard owners to change their grapes into raisins with the hope of selling them at reasonable prices, Bana said.
The price of one maan (4 kg) of raisins used to be about 3,000 afghani (about 46.5 U.S. dollars), but it has fallen to 1,000 afghani (around 15.5 U.S. dollars) currently, according to him.
Noting that grapes and raisins are two important items of export, he suggested that business and trade relations should be exempted from politics.
"My request to the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan is to keep the border open to continue trade activities," the businessman said. ■
