DUSHANBE, October 16, Asia-Plus — In January-September 2006 gross agricultural product from all categories of farms has been 2.410124 billion somonis (equivalent to some US$711 million) in current prices and increased by 8.5 percent compared to the same period of last year, Minister of Agriculture Voris Madaminov announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on October 13.
According to him, all categories of farms have produced 743,876 tons of grain, 314,313 tons of potatoes, 503,966 tons of vegetables, 153,838 tons of melon crops, 117,639 tons of fruits and 61,424 tons of grapes.
The productivity of grain has been 1.7 tons per hectare. Tajikistan plans to plant winter crops on an area of 140,300 hectares. As of October 1 2006 agricultural enterprises and peasant (farm-run) farms have sown with winter crops more than 3,000 hectares of farmland.
The tobacco harvesting campaign is under way in the country, according to the minister. This year, Tajik farmers have planted tobacco on the area of 1,112 hectares. At present tobacco crops are grown only in Ayni and Panjakent districts in northern Tajikistan.
The minister noted that the country had developed gardening and viticulture at the expense of cutting down areas of cotton production. According to Madaminov, new gardens and vineyards have been planted on the areas of 1,409 hectares and 466 hectares respectively.
On the rising farm produce prices, the minister said that rise in prices of farm produce in Tajikistan had been caused by rising prices of fuel and mineral fertilizers. “Besides, increase in demand for farm produce has also led to increase in prices of agricultural output,” said the minister, “We have offered administrations of Khatlon and Sughd provinces to organize fairs of their farm produce in Dushanbe in the weekends; prices of output realized in such fairs are 20 percent lower than prices of agricultural output realized on the city’s markets.”
On the problems facing the country’s cotton sector, the minister stressed that debts of cotton farmers to domestic and foreign creditors have increased as a result of non-fulfillment of obligations on the concluded contracts and dropping world prices of cotton. He said a special commission had been set up to settle debts in this sector. “Matlubkhon Davlatov, State Adviser to the President for Economic Matters, heads this commission,” Madaminov said. He also noted that it is difficult to name an exact amount of debt of cotton farmers to their creditors. “At present different figures are named but nobody is able to name the exact amount of this debt.”
He added that in future the ministry will consider the possibility of cutting down areas of cotton production due to increasing the productivity of cotton.
