Harvesting of crops is in full swing in Tajikistan. Cotton and grain harvesting is delayed this year due to climatic conditions, while the grape harvest will make up only one third of last year’s volumes.
Production of potatoes and other vegetables as well as melons and fruits far exceeds last year's volumes.
Prices for carrots, onions and potatoes are stills table; they are lower than last year.
Cotton
Tajikistan’s cotton growers are taking real measures to achieve the forecast performance, which has been determined at 430,000 tons of cotton.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), cotton growers of the southern province of Khatlon have yielded 206,000 tons of cotton by October 20.
Cotton growers of Sughd province (northern Tajikistan) have gathered about 76,000 tons of cotton by this date (17,000 tons less than last year by this date), and cotton growers of districts subordinate to the center (in central Tajikistan) have yielded more than 3,000 tons of cotton by October 20 (1,000 tons less than last year by this date).
This year's warm days reportedly require the country's cotton growers to step up the cotton harvesting campaign so that they can gather this year's harvest in a timely fashion.
The country has yielded about 284,000 tons of cotton by October 20, which is 18,000 less than last year by this date.
This year, Tajik farmers have planted cotton on 184,000 hectares, which 2,000 hectares fewer than it was planned.
Taking into the account the international cotton prices, specialists estimate the minimum cost of 1 ton of medium-staple cotton at 10,000 somonis and the minimum cost of 1 ton of the fine-fiber cotton at 15,000 somonis.
Cotton, which is reportedly one of the main cash crops in Tajikistan, has been cultivated on nearly 30 percent of the cropped area.
Grains
As of October 20, Tajik farmers have reportedly yielded 925,000 tons of grains (16,000 tons less than last year by this date), including 705,000 tons of wheat (10,000 tons less than last year by this date).
Tajikistan’s farmers are forecasted to yield 1.671 million tons of cereals this year, including 975,000 tons of wheat.
This year, wheat has been cultivated on 36% of the country’s cropped area.
Potatoes
Over the first ten months, Tajik farmers have produced about 710,000 tons of potatoes, which is 125,000 tons more than in the same period last year. In January-October, an average potato yield was 23.5 tons per hectare, which 300 kilograms more compared to the same period last year.
Specialists from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MoEDT) predicted at the beginning of the year that Tajik farmers will produce 1.112 million tons of potatoes this year.
Vegetables and fruits
The Ministry of Agriculture says that over the first ten months of this year, Tajik farmers have produced about 1,3 million tons of vegetables (100,000 tons more than in the same period last year) and more than 434,000 tons of fruits (almost 90,000 tons more than in the same period last year).
Over the reporting period, Tajik farming units, in particular, produced 620,000 tons of onions (95,000 tons more than in the same period last year), little more than 47,000 tons of cabbages (1,000 tons more than in January-October last year), about 247,000 tons of tomatoes, 119,000 tons of cucumbers, and 133,000 tons of carrots (10,000 tons more than in the same period last year).
This year, Tajik farmers are forecasted to produce 2.665 million tons of vegetables, including 747,000 tons of onions.
In January-October this year, Tajik farmers have produced more than 635,000 tons of melons and gourds (melons, water melons and pumpkins), which is 94,000 tons more than in the same period last year.
Tajik farmers are forecasted to produce 835,000 tons of melons and gourds this year.
Over the same ten-month period, Tajik farming units have reportedly produced about 78,000 tons of grapes, which is 60,000 tons less than in the same period last year.
