Kabul, Apr 15 (IANS): The Taliban-run administration has inaugurated a major agricultural project to cover 20,000 hectares of land in Afghanistan's eastern Laghman province, provincial Governor Zainul Abidin Madani said on Friday.

At a cost of 20 billion afghanis and as a joint venture of the government and private sector, the project was launched in Qargahyi district on Thursday, the official said, adding that the project would irrigate 20,000 hectares of lands to cultivate more crops and develop gardening, vegetable cultivation with the objective to export agricultural products, Xinhua news agency reported.

Welcoming the step as an initiative toward achieving self-sufficiency, locals called upon the administration to launch more such projects elsewhere in the country to create job opportunities for the people.

Earlier the authorities launched a 280-km long water canal in the northern Balkh province and extraction of crude oil in the neighboring Sari Pul province over the past couple of weeks.