DUSHANBE, July 22, 2008, Asia-Plus — In accordance with a new mechanism of financing the cotton sector, banks and farming units have signed loan agreements for funding 82,678 hectares of cotton fields, the Deputy Agriculture Minister, Mahmoud Qodirov, said.
“Besides, companies have concluded loan agreements with farming units though banks for financing other 100,647 hectares of cotton fields,” the deputy minister said, noting that farming units with totaling 35,608 hectares of cotton fields are working on the basis of self-financing.
“Thus, cultivation of 228,933 hectares of cotton fields or 90 percent of a total area under cotton has been financed under the loan agreements,” said Qodirov, “A total amount of the signed loan agreements is 433.809 million somonis; more than 205 million somonis of them have already been spent.”
We will recall that under the new financing mechanism, 2,770 somonis (equivalent to some 4808) should be spent for one hectare.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 29,200 dehqon (peasant) farms dealing with cotton-growing now function in Tajikistan.
