Agriculture

Our trip to Afghanistan in October of 1977 coincided with the harvest. One weekend we headed north from Kabul up into the mountains to the Salaang Pass. As we climbed the asphalt road came to be above the fields on either side of the road. In other parts of the country where the land is level we saw larger fields and in one a young man was plowing with a tractor. Here in the mountains the fields were very small and work done with the help of oxen.

The Harvest

We stopped at a field where men were harvesting the wheat crop. The wheat was cut with sickles. The bundles were then placed on the ground and a man drove a team of oxen around and around in a circle to knock the grains off the stems. Another man threw fork fulls of wheat in the air so that the smaller grains would fall to the ground.

In the field in the background, a field is harvested. The man in the foreground throws fork fulls of the straw into the air to separate the grains from the straw. The straw will be fed to the animals during the winter.

We stood silently looking down into this scene that seemed to come from the Bible. The men were cheerful. Harvest is a good time of the year in a poor country. And as it was near noon one man spread a cloth on the ground and laid out the meal. With gestures he invited us to join them. We declined, but we were touched that such poor people would offer to share with us.

Preparing The Fields

This man is plowing his field using a wooden plow. Notice the irrigation ditch in the right corner. To irrigate the field he will remove a dam of earth and stones and allow the water to flood the field. This farmer probably does not own the water and must purchase it from a water lord. Men were delighted to be photographed and at each stop we had to take the photograph quickly before they noticed our presence because invariably they would stop work and pose upright for the picture.

This man is leveling his field using a wooden plank on which he is standing. Nothing is wasted here. We saw young girls walking the fields gathering the dung piles. The dung will be dried on the roofs of the houses and used as fuel in the winter.

Irrigation
In a dry country, water is life. In Afghanistan of 1977 irrigation was accomplished with pumps. Water is captured high in the mountains in underground canals. These canals must be kept clean. In the picture below two men are lowering a third down into the underground tunnel. He will remove dirt and debris and pass it back up in a bucket. This is very dangerous work because the tunnel can collapse.

We went on our way. After our visit the war came to this land. First the Mujahadeen, then the Russians, and finally the Taliban. The news reports say that the irrigation system and the agriculture of the country is destroyed.

Afghanistan is losing a war to America and when it is over, we will send experts and tractors, fertilizer, and all the other trapping of modern agriculture. I am sure the land will produce more with less and that is right because people can not be expected to be a living museum. I was lucky to be there on one of the last days of peace in this troubled land.

A farmer irrigates his field.