Cara Rosehope
23-11-2003, 07:40 PM
This a request for information rather than a discussion. I have just returned to Australia after a month in Afghanistan. Among the myriad problems facing the country is a deterioration in soil fertility in some areas. While traditionally the small holdings that are the norm there have been worked sustainably, with a mixture of tree crops and annual plantings using organic methods, the situation there has meant that many of the trees have been cut down. Organic materials that would once have been used to mulch are now used for fuel or for animal fodder, while potential composting material such as vegetable waste is also foraged by the livestock. I heard people in high places talk about building urea plants to increase fertility, and the need to replace the often seed-raised (and absolutely delicious!) wild type fruit trees now grown, with the more uniform varieties acceptable in other countries and therefore exportable.
Afghanistan has some highly fertile river valleys and plains that have been farmed sustainably for aeons so successfully that the country has normally been self-sufficient food-wise.
Far be it for some westerner to impose their ideas on the country, but I am concerned after what I have seen, and the country clearly needs some help to get back to what it has done so well for so long. So, does anybody know of any one or any organisation who involve themselves in such things?
Cheers
CARA ROSEHOPE
Afghanistan has some highly fertile river valleys and plains that have been farmed sustainably for aeons so successfully that the country has normally been self-sufficient food-wise.
Far be it for some westerner to impose their ideas on the country, but I am concerned after what I have seen, and the country clearly needs some help to get back to what it has done so well for so long. So, does anybody know of any one or any organisation who involve themselves in such things?
Cheers
CARA ROSEHOPE