DUSHANBE, July 5, 2011, Asia-Plus — This year, the cotton-harvesting campaign is expected to start 10-15 days earlier than usual in Tajikistan. It cannot be ruled out that some cotton producing districts in Khatlon province will start the cotton-harvesting campaign at the end of this month.
The Khatlon agriculture directorate head Sadullo Beknazarov says, “Judging by hot weather cotton will ripen earlier this year and the harvest is expected to be not bad.”
Qutfullo Ziyodulloyev, head of the crop production department within the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), says land treatment operations have been carried out opportunely.
According to him, farming units in the northern Sughd province have planted cotton on 65,300 hectares, which is 4.4 percent more than it was originally planned. Sughd province was supposed to allocate 62,500 hectares to cotton this year.
Districts subordinate to the center have allocated 17,000 hectares to cotton cultivation this year; they have planted cotton on 11,800 hectares.
Cotton farmers in Khatlon have planted cotton on 126,700 hectares, which is 97.1 percent of their cotton sowing target. In all, 130,500 hectares have been allocated to cotton cultivation in Khatlon.
The MoA specialists expect Tajik farmers to yield some 400,000 tons of raw cotton this year.
Last year, Tajikistan yielded 310,513 tons of raw cotton from 160,400 hectares, which was 10,500 tons more than it was originally planned and 3.2 percent (13,500 tons) more than in 2009.
Cotton makes an important contribution to both the agricultural sector and the national economy. Cotton accounts for 60 percent of agricultural output, supports 75 percent of the rural population, and uses 45 percent of irrigated arable land. At the national level, it is an important source of both export earnings and tax revenue. Cotton fiber accounts for some 15 percent of Tajikistan’s exports. Tajikistan is reportedly the world’s fourth largest exporter of cotton, and there is strong demand on international markets for its high quality product.
