KPDS ÜDS OKUMA PARÇASI - 21

Afghanistan's terrain, climate and tradition of gardening make it a good place for growing fruit in the 1970s, export of fruits and nuts provided about 40% of the countries foreign exchange. About 60% of the world's dried fruit came from Afghanistan. In the 1990s the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) helped to create over 300 fruit-tree nurseries throughout the country to replace orchards destroyed during a decade of occupation by the Soviet Union. Further fighting ruined more of Afghan agriculture, including the vineyards of the Somali plain. But it was the lack of water — and the lack of money — that devastated the country's orchards, most of which are now in a sorry state. Such fruits and vegetables that are being produced now are difficult to distribute or export because many of the country's roads and bridges have been destroyed.