Researchers from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Tajikistan together with local authorities of Murgab District of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) are planting potatoes plant potatoes in Bulunkul area of Murgab district.
This unique experiment on planting potatoes and forage crops at high altitude is being carried out in the area of 15 hectares.
Tajik researchers believe that Bulunkul has good potentials for producing potatoes and forage crops, but these potentials are not used because of remoteness of the area and lack of electricity, manpower and agricultural machines.
Qurbonali Partoyev, Chief Scientific Secretary to the Institute of Botany and Plant Physiology and Genetics Researchers of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, says that more than 500 hectares of lands in Bulunkul could be used for planting agricultural crops.
Bulunkul Village is located at the height of 3,750 meters above sea level next to Bulunkul Lake in Alichur Jamoat, Murgab District of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). There are 62 households in the village. They are engaged in animal husbandry.
The climate in the Bulunkul area is harsh. It is the coldest area not only in Tajikistan but in the whole Central Asia’s region. It is in Bulunkul that the absolute temperature minimum was reported — -63 ºC. The main problem is lack of electricity.
