DUSHANBE, January 30, Asia-Plus — 2,500 hectares of cotton fields were affected by pests last year, Agriculture and Environmental Protection Minister Abdurahmon Qodirov announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 29.
“We are not able to resolve such problems alone because measures to combat pests require considerable funds,” the minister said, noting that recently international organizations provided a total of 1.5 million somonis for combating pests.
On other problems facing the agrarian sector, Qodirov pointed to the necessity of projecting new mechanisms of financing the cotton sector. “As for me, I am against farming units’ working on the futures contract system,” said the minister, “The present situation is very complex and we jointly with national bank are currently considering the issue of providing farming units with loans carrying no interest.”
The minister added that some 70 percent of agricultural machines in Tajikistan had already outlived their usefulness.
