DUSHANBE, June 14, Asia-Plus — Every year, Tajikistan loses up to 30 percent of harvests due to pests, Saidjalol Saidov, director of the Research Institute of Crop Production within the Academy of Agriculture, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, Tajikistan is not the only country in the world being faced with this problem. Saidov said that it is a global problem and named pests as one of main factors posing threat to food security.
“These losses are inevitable we just try to mitigate their effects, thereby providing our food security,” the expert said.
Researcher is sure that agrarian sector had not been protected against pests in the Soviet time as well. “Indeed, toxic chemical and insecticides had been sprayed that time; however they had been killing not only pests but also useful insects that are beneficial for agricultural crops,” Saidov said.
He also underlined the importance of serious approach to the interim harvest issues. “If we now harvest some up 800,000 tons of cereals a year, the serious approach to the interim harvest could allow increasing cereals production to some 1.2 million tons, and to meet the country’s annual requirements in cereals we would have to import only 300,00 tons of cereals,” Saidov said.
