By Robert Pore
robert.pore@theindependent.com

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Independent/Scott Kingsley Afghan governor Abdulhaq Shafaq (left) asks a question of Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale during an agricultural production forum in Babel's Barn in Wood River. Another Afghan governor Arsala Jamal is seen at right. Independent/Scott Kingsley Eight Afghanistan governors met with local farmers, officials and state officials during an agricultural production panel discussion at Babel's Barn in Wood River Tuesday afternoon. The tour stop was part of the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. Click Thumbnails to View

The Afghan officials participated in a panel discussion on agricultural production with area farmers and ag leaders, along with Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale, at Babel's Barn in Wood River.

According to the United Nations, Afghanistan is expected to produce another large opium poppy crop this year, close to last year's record harvest.

Along with the crop being illegal, it has become a major source of revenue for the Taliban insurgency, according to the United Nations.

Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world's opium, the UN reported.

Also, the UN reports that the cultivation of cannabis is increasing, making Afghanistan one of the biggest suppliers of cannabis as well.

About 80 percent of the Afghan population works in agriculture. Half the population makes less than $1,000 per year.

What makes growing opium poppies such a lucrative crop for Afghan farmers is that, as the United Nations reported last year, a hectare of opium poppy production earned the farmer $5,385 compared to a hectare of irrigated wheat that brought $575.

Among the provincial governors visiting Central Nebraska were: Bahloul Bahij, governor of Panjshir province; Enayatullah Enayat, governor of Samangan province; Dr. Assadullah Hamdam, governor of Uruzgan province; Arsala Jamal, governor of Khost province; Dr. Mohammad Akram Khpalwak, governor of Paktika province; Sultan Ali Orzgani, governor of Dai Kundi province; Abdulhaq Shafaq, governor of Faryab province; and Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, governor of Kunar province.

One of the questions posed by the visitors involved government farm programs.

Rod Gangwish, who farms in the Shelton area and is a former president of the National Corn Growers Association, told the Afghan visitors that American farm policy is set by the Farm Bill passed by Congress every six or seven years. He said the Farm Bill is a market-oriented program that provides producers financial support when crop prices fall below a set target price.

Gangwish said Congress is yet to pass a new Farm Bill and may extend the current Farm Bill if Congress cannot meet the deadline to pass new legislation later this week.

What Gangwish told the Afghan officials that despite the high prices crops are currently bringing, input costs such as fuel and fertilizer have skyrocketed, greatly reducing the producers' profit margin.

The Afghan visitors told the group that while government price supports for farmers is a great idea, the Afghanistan government can't afford it. But they were curious about how to structure Afghan agriculture so it can better reflect the American model.

Secretary of State Gale said technology and modern agricultural practices that have made farming more efficient have also caused an outmigration of people from Nebraska's rural areas to the cities.

But, at the same time, Gale said government farm programs and technological advancements have also made food production abundant, lowering food costs to consumers. He said Americans spend about 11 percent of their disposable income on food, the lowest percentage in the world.

The Afghan officials told the farmers and ag officials during the exchange that with such a high percentage of Afghanistan's population involved in production agriculture, they need to send some of their young farmers to America to learn how to increase agricultural production to not only feed their people, but also develop a profitable alternative to poppy production.

Many of their questions involved modern techniques employed by this country's farmers and the technology they use to increase crop production.

Gale said that agriculture in Nebraska has grown from small farms of 160 acres or less to farms that are as large as 2,000 acres or more.

But he told the Afghan visitors that because of improved technology and better economies of scale, many small farmers in Nebraska have been squeezed out of farming.

What has made a difference in improving Nebraska agriculture has been the land grant college system employed at the beginning of the 20th century. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a land grant college and its Cooperative Extension program has been highly successful in creating a successful agricultural industry in the state during the past 100 years, he said.

Gale said creating this same type of unbiased Cooperative Extension program in Afghanistan to employ modern research and science to improve food and fiber production would greatly benefit agricultural production there.

An example of the kind of technology that has made Nebraska agriculture some of the most productive in the world can be seen in center pivot systems that dot the state's landscape, according to Gangwish.

To demonstrate his point, Gangwish pulled out his cell phone and told the Afghan officials how he controls his center pivot system through cell phone technology.

By going to center pivots, not only do farmers save on water use, but Gangwish said while it used to take as many as seven people to operate his old gravity irrigation systems, it now takes three people with the new center pivot technology.

Another example of improved agricultural technology that could dramatically improve Afghan agricultural production is biotechnology, said Bob McCauley, a research agronomist with Monsanto.

More than 70 percent of Nebraska's corn crop and 97 percent of its soybean crop are of biotech varieties.

McCauley said the revolution of biotechnology that has taken place in the last 15 years has improved crop yields by helping crops to fend off insects and become tolerant of herbicides used by farmers to kill weeds.

He said what will greatly benefit farmers not only in America, but also in Afghanistan and other nations, will be the development of more drought-tolerant crop varieties, as 70 percent of all yield loss worldwide is a result of drought.

Here in Nebraska, McCauley said, the several inches of water saved by using drought-tolerant crop varieties could easily fill Nebraska's reservoirs in one year.

Also part of the panel discussion were moderator Don Vogel; Dick Kincade, superintendent of the Buffalo County Weed Control District; and Kenneth Layher, a Wood River farmer whose farm the group visited after the discussion.

The Afghan visitors were welcomed by Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman and the Grand Island Area Council for International Visitors. They had earlier been welcomed by President Bush at the White House in Washington.