Afghan farmers have harvested more than 72,000 tons of cotton over the past year, the Ministry for Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock said in a statement on Monday. Afghanistan collected 72,493 tons of cotton from 54,869 hectares of land last year, the statement said. Last year, the year of 1401 in Persian calendar, ended on March 20, 2023 and the year of 1402 commenced on March 21, 2023. Balkh, Takhar, Kunduz, Baghlan, eastern Nangarhar, western Herat and Nimroz provinces significantly contributed to producing cotton last year, the statement added. Since poppy cultivation was banned in April 2022, Afghan farmers have begun replacing the illicit crop with cotton, saffron, rice, wheat and other legal plants. Afghanistan’s caretaker government has encouraged farmers to grow valuable plants in the war-ravaged country.