KULOB, July 18, 2008, Asia-Plus — In 85 percent of 7,390 hectares of cotton fields in Kulob, Vose, Farkhor and Hamadoni districts, cotton bushes have from 10 to 12 bolls each.
All these cotton-growing farms are funded by Tajikistan’s savings bank, Amonatbonk.
However, speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Rajabali Kulabekov, an agronomist-expert with Amonatbonk’s branch in Kulob, said that some farming units are experiencing shortage of water for irrigation.
“Thus, of 91 farms in the Vose district, 41 have problems with land treatment because of severe water shortages,” Kulabekov said.
According to him, 107 of 191 hectares of cotton fields of the farming unit Sabz in the Kulob district have also been affected by water shortages that have resulted from irregular work of the pump station.
The expert noted that because of the dry spring water levels at the Muminobod reservoir and the Yakhsou River had declined nearly by 50 percent.
