DUSHANBE, January 23, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan is seeking investors to rehabilitate its Karakul-breeding branch.
Muzaffar Mirzoyev, head of the cattle-breeding, fishery and poultry department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection (MoAEP) said in an interview with Asia-Plus that at present six state-controlled farms in the Khatlon province are engaged in breeding the Karakul that provides beautifully patterned silky pelts of the young lambs. “Over the past three years, no companies have purchased wool produced by these farms,” said Mirzoyev, “Local buyer-ups are purchasing the wool at the rate of 0.40 somoni per kilogram, while the cost price of one kilogram of karakul wool is some 1.00 somoni.”
According to him, compared to 2005 the Karakul stock in Tajikistan last year increased by 5 percent and it currently amounts to 130,000 head. “The ministry has repeatedly applied to the government for long-term preferential loans to modernize the Karakul-breeding farms,” the MoAEP official said.
Mirzoyev noted that before 2002, Tajikistan had had good benefit from selling the crinkled fur of stillborn Karakul lambs. “The main trading partners were Ukraine and Belarus,” said the MoAEP official, “They used the fur to make outer garments and hats.”
The Karakul is a breed of domesticated sheep
. It originated in Central Asia
, and some archaeological evidence points to it being bred in the region continuously since 1400 BC. The Karakul”s most important feature is its prized pelt, from which karakul wool comes. It is taken directly from the fetus by first slaying the pregnant sheep. The pelts of Karakul lambs are more silky than furry. Many adults are double coated and the coarse guard hair must be separated from the undercoat. Karakul is relatively coarse fiber used for outer garment and for felting. This wool is also used to make high-end hats
and carpets and hand-woven rugs in its native lands. Dark colors are dominant and lambs often darken in color as they age.
