Kandahar -

An Afghan businessman has established a scorpion and snake farm in Kandahar Province;

Thus, it will be the first farm to produce poison in the southern provinces of Afghanistan.

It contains 6 thousand scorpions and 800 snakes, all collected in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand and Zabul.

The farm manager, Ahmed Shah, told Al Jazeera Net, "So far, no investment has been made in this field in the state of Kandahar, and according to international standards, the poison of its scorpions and snakes is of good quality due to its dry weather, especially since some reptiles in the deserts are threatened with extinction."

There are 13 species of venomous snakes in Afghanistan, most of which are in the southern provinces (the island)

The venom of scorpions and snakes

The amount of scorpion and snake venom decreases in the winter because it enters the winter hibernation, and this affects their prices and quantity in general. The process of extracting the poison takes between 10 to 20 days, and every thousand scorpions produces about a gram and a half cm.

The director of the laboratory, Abdul Karim Khan, told Al-Jazeera Net, "The price of one gram of scorpion venom reaches a thousand dollars, and snake venom is 1,500 dollars, and we export it to the UAE and Iran for medical purposes, and we plan to send it to Europe, but the recent political changes have affected the export process abroad."

A type of poisonous reptile on a farm in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan (Al-Jazeera)

poisonous reptiles

The farm is interested in the poisonous reptiles that are found in and around the deserts of Kandahar, and provided the opportunity to work for about 300 people. It also buys scorpions and snakes from those who hunt them in the deserts, where a large group of young people these days have resorted to searching for reptiles and scorpions.

The female scorpion gives birth to between 30 to 60 scorpions, in June and July, after the mating season during April, in addition to relying on the catch of 50 to 120 people, and scorpion hunters go out on excursions. Fishing for a weekly wage of up to $200.

The director of the farm told Al Jazeera Net, "We collected this amount of scorpions and snakes with the help of people, and we pay them for every scorpion and snake, so we can preserve them from extinction, and the poison of these scorpions is taken once every 3 months, and according to my estimation, the number will double 3 times in the future."

Find a market

Some businessmen have imported the idea of ​​raising scorpions and snakes from abroad for medical purposes and exporting their poison abroad, but they say that it takes time to be able to find a local and international market, especially since US and foreign sanctions on Afghanistan have significantly affected the living situation.

Factory officials say they have collected nearly 400 grams of scorpion and snake venom in the past six months, and are now asking the government to cooperate in exporting it outside Afghanistan.

All scorpions and snakes were caught in the desert and transported to the farm to extract and preserve poison (Al-Jazeera)

Afghanistan is rich in scorpions

The number of scorpion species in the world is more than two thousand, of which 30-40 species are poisonous enough to kill humans, and in Afghanistan there are 22 species of scorpions.

Muhammad Halim, an employee at the farm, told Al Jazeera Net, "All the scorpions and snakes we have were caught in the desert and we have taken them to the farm to extract and preserve poison."

Officials in the local administration in Kandahar province say that they support such investments, and plan to open more farms in the field of scorpion and snake breeding, because Afghanistan has many species of scorpions, as well as creating job opportunities for young people.

Director of the Department of Agriculture Karim Khan told Al Jazeera Net, "Afghanistan has a wide range of poisonous scorpions and reptiles, but today it is facing the threat of extinction due to neglect. We are trying to establish a system to produce and process snake and scorpion venom for export and medical use."

There are 13 types of venomous snakes in Afghanistan, most of which are in the southern provinces such as Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan. According to those in charge of the farm, their poison is distinguished from others because of the dry weather of these areas.