Large Factories of Jam and Tomato-paste to be built

Saratan 9: June 30, 2021
A coordination meeting on establishment of tomatoes and jam factories was held with the officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADF) and the Ministry of Agriculture Horticulture Value Chain (HVCDSP) project, chaired by Hashmatullah Ghafouri, deputy minister of irrigation and natural resources of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL).
Paghman Bahar Sabz Tomato paste Factory is supposed to be built at a cost of 4 million US dollars, of which one million dollars would be paid by ADF via the Ministry of Agriculture, and Hazrat Mohammad Kochi Jam Production Factory is going to be built in Nangarhar at a cost of 21.3 million dollars with 50 support of this bank.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture's Horticulture Value Chain Project, Paghman Bahar Sabz tomato paste Factory will produce four metric tons of tomato paste of quality per hour, with tomatoes sourced from Logar and Nangarhar provinces. The Mohammad Kochi Jam Factory will also produce 0.5 metric tons of Jam from Carrot, fig, cherry every hour.
Hashmatullah Ghafouri, deputy minister of irrigation and natural resources of the Ministry of Agriculture, said at the meeting that it should be assessed how much tomato paste and jam is imported to Afghanistan, according to which production in this sector is properly managed, production increases and in coordination with Relevant departments, high tariffs should be imposed on the import of these items.
On the other hand, Mr. Ghafouri said. “The specialists of the Ministry of Agriculture should provide technical advice to officials of these factories on production of quality products so that they can compete with similar foreign products. He also stressed the need for good packaging and excellent taste of these products.
It is worth mentioning that Afghanistan imports a large part of its jam and paste from Iran and Turkey.