Main Article Content
Abstract (in English)
Afghanistan’s horticultural sector faces substantial challenges from climate change, including rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, glacier retreat, and increasing pressures from pests and diseases. These climatic changes disrupt key physiological and production processes in major fruit, vegetable, and ornamental crops, including flowering, fruit set, pollination, water availability, and postharvest quality. Global evidence and regional observations suggest that reduced winter chilling in temperate fruit crops, sunburn and fruit cracking in apples, apricots, and grapes, heat-induced yield reductions in vegetables, and climate-sensitive outbreaks of insect pests pose serious risks to horticultural productivity, although direct and comprehensive studies in Afghanistan remain limited. Productivity is further constrained by water scarcity, which is exacerbated by inadequate water management practices. This review synthesizes available Afghanistan-specific evidence and relevant international literature to assess the impacts of climate change on the country’s horticultural sector. It also highlights key adaptation and mitigation strategies, including the use of climate-resilient cultivars, protected cultivation, precision irrigation, integrated pest management, improved soil management, and strengthened research and policy support to enhance the resilience of Afghanistan’s horticultural systems.