MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The price of sesame cooking oil has jumped unprecedentedly due to its export to the foreign countries, according to some producers of this variety of cooking oil.
Currently one kilogram of sesame cooking oil is sold against 400 afs in Balk while two years ago the rate of the same quantity of cooking oil was 200 afs. Sesame producers have asked the government to ban the export of sesame seeds.
Jummah Murad, one of the producers of the cooking oil, told Pajhwok Afghan News due to drought and decline in rainfall the sesame yield reduced and in addition the sesame seed is also exported outside the country.
He said two years ago one kilogram of sesame cooking oil was sold against less than 200 afs while currently the rate of the same quality is 400 afs.
Another producer Parviz said this year the cultivation and yield of sesame had reduced due to which the price of cooking oil had jumped unprecedentedly.
He said: “The cultivation of sesame had reduced, most people started cultivating asafetida and other plants therefore there is sesame seeds shortage in the market which led to the cooking oil price hike.”
Common people, however, demanded the sesame price should reduce to its original rate. Khairuddin, the resident of Mazar-I-Sharif, said he used sesame oil in cooking from the past 15 years.
He added this variety of cooking oil is beneficial for the health and its taste is different from other cooking oils. He demanded the reversal of sesame cooking oil to its original rate so that people could get benefit from it.
Balkh Agriculture and Livestock Director Shamsuddin Khalid acknowledged the problem and said efforts were underway to stop the export of sesame seeds.
He assured the sesame cooking oil producers and said the Agriculture Department was committed to support farmers in every sector.
It is pertinent to mention that people in the Northern provinces mostly used sesame cooking oil in the cooking of Qalbula Palaw and other types of rice.
