This year, Tajikistan has decided to extend areas under cotton. A special republic commission has been set up to be responsible for fulfillment of the cotton-sowing campaign.
This year, Tajikistan has allocated nearly 188,500 hectares of lands for cultivation of cotton, which is 910 hectares more than it was planned last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
An official source at a MoA says that last year they failed to fulfill the cotton-sowing campaign target and planted cotton on only 184,500 hectares against the originally planned 187,500 hectares.
According to him, a special republic commission has been set up to supervise the cotton –sowing campaign and advise cotton-growing farms.
As of April 9, farmers reportedly planted cotton on 113,200 hectares, which is more than 60 percent of the cotton-sowing target.
“Cotton-growing farms in Khatlon provinces have reached 78 percent of the cotton-sowing target, cotton growing farms in Sughd province – 29.7 percent and cotton-growing farms in districts subordinate to the center (Hisor Valley) – 9.4 percent,” the source said.
Farmers say the cotton-sowing campaign in Sughd province and Hisor Valley has been impeded by frequent rains.
In 2017, 174,000 hectares of agricultural lands were allocated for cotton cultivation and cotton-growing farmers yielded 380,000 tons of raw cotton in that year.
Last year, they yielded only 300,000 tons of raw cotton from 184,500 hectares.
Cotton makes an important contribution to both the agricultural sector and the national economy. Along with primary aluminum, cotton has been one of major export items for Tajikistan. In 2018, Tajikistan reportedly exported US$181.6 million worth of nearly 93,000 tons of cotton fiber.
