KHUJAND, June 16, Asia-Plus — Improvement of irrigation situation in northern Tajikistan has allowed continuing rice-sowing campaign.
Rustam Rahimov, the deputy head of the Sughd agriculture directorate, told Asia-plus on Monday that increase in discharge of water from the Qairoqqum reservoir had allowed local farmers to continue rice-sowing campaign.
“As of June 1, rice has been planted on the area of totaling 3,301 hectares, which is 2,438 hectares fewer than it was originally planned,” said Rahimov, “To make up for lost time we have intensified the rice-sowing campaign. If water had come to fields in its usual routine like last year, we would have already completed to sowing campaign.”
According to him, there have been cases of interim rice harvests in the province. “After wheat has been gathered in one of districts from 125 hectares, we have planted rice on that area,” the Sughd official said, adding that decrease in the rice harvest target has resulted from high salinity and decrease in soil fertility as growing the same crop in the same place depletes the soil of various nutrients.
He added that this year, Sughd farmers plan to harvest 17,742 tons of rice. Last year, they gathered 20,075 tons of rice.
