KHOROG, October 28, 2008, Asia-Plus — The yak-breeding farm, Bulunkul, in GBAO’s Murgab district has sent another consignment of yaks – totaling 120 head – to the mountain areas of Sughd and Khatlon provinces and the Jirgatol district in eastern Tajikistan.
According to Imomali Sabourov, the head of the sate unitary enterprise for breeding and selling pedigree cattle, poultry and honey bees, the yaks have been sent to Sughd and Khatlon as well as the Jirgatol district in eastern Tajikistan to promote implementation of government’s resolution on development of yak breeding in the country.
According to him, Khovaling and Baljuvon districts in Khatlon have received 15 yaks each, Mastchoh and Ayni districts – 28 yaks each, Jirgatol district – 24 yaks, and the Shugnan district in Gorno Badakhshan – 10 yaks.
“Over the past three years, 20 head of yaks have been sent to the Ayni and Kirgatol districts,” Sabourov said.
He added that they planned to bring population of yaks in the mentioned districts to 500 to 1000 head in the coming five years.
According to the GBAO agriculture directorate, the population of yaks in the region is now more than 15,500 heads.
The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population.
In the Murgab district, the yak provides their owners with products mainly for home consumption. Milk is used for household needs. Yak meat is consumed mainly within the households, while in recent years communities with market access have started to sell it to local butchers. At the end of the summer grazing season, when the animals are at their peak weight and cold conditions prevail, yak are traditionally slaughtered to fulfill the meat requirements for the winter. Yak hair is utilized for different purposes. The majority of hair is made into threads of which coarse rugs are made to cover the sleeping spaces in the yurt, or the house. These products rarely reach the markets. Overall it can be said that yak products are traditionally household-related and that other animals such as sheep and goats are kept for marketing and trading. In recent years, this pattern has been abridged and the yak and its products play a role in the cross-border exchange of goods and for bartering.
