Tajik farmers says rice prices are expected to rise 5%-10% in the country compared to the last year.
According to them, the reason for the rise in rice prices is inflation, increasing demand for rice due to increasing needs of the population and rising production costs.
The fact is that rice is one of the most labor-intensive agricultural crops.
Rice farmers in Tajikistan are faced with the high cost of planting material, fuels, agricultural equipment rental and pesticides.
In addition to this, the cost of hired labor for planting and harvesting rice has doubled in Tajikistan.
Rice is grown in river valleys, where paddies can be easily created by flooding. The main rice producer in Tajikistan is Sughd province. Fully 44% of the rice harvest comes from Zarafshon and Fergana valleys in Sughd; another 36% is produced in the heavily irrigated Khatlon lowlands and the remaining 20% comes from Hisor Valley, irrigated by the Kofarnihon River.
In reports by the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, together with fruits and vegetables, melons and gourds, and cereals, rice is included in the commodity group of products of plant origin.
Over the first ten months of this year, Tajikistan has reportedly imported 44.368 million US dollars’ worth of products of plant origin.
It is to be noted that Kazakhstan provides a bulk of Tajikistan’s rice imports.
Media reports say rice production in Kazakhstan in January-October decreased by 10%, while prices immediately increased by 40%.
Citing the monitoring company Energprom, Tridge reports that over the first then months of this year, the production of semi-hulled, fully hulled or split rice in Kazakhstan has amounted to 177,200 tons – 9.8% less than in the same period last year. It is worth noting: previously there was an increase in output for three years in a row.
The share of rice imports over the reporting period reportedly increased from 4.0% to 14%. According to the portal information, almost all the rice in Kazakhstan is produced in the Kyzylorda region, and the remaining less than 10% comes from the Almaty, Turkestan and Zhetysu regions. As specified, in January – August 2023, 21,000 tons of half-hulled, completely hulled or split rice were imported into the country, 3.3 times more compared to the same period last year. The share of imports in the domestic market reportedly increased from 3.9% to 13.6%.
74,800 tons of rice were exported, more than half of which went to Uzbekistan. Significant volumes of exports also went to Russia and Tajikistan.
It is also noted: at the end of October this year, rice prices in Kazakhstan rose 40.3% per year – significantly more than last year, when there was an increase in price of 28.9%. Prior to this, rice prices had fallen for two years in a row.
Over the past three years, Tajikistan has increased rice production by almost 47 percent, increasing rice production from up to 90,000 tons in 2018 to more than 130,000 tons annually over the past three years.
Besides, there are traditionally high yields of rice varieties cultivated in Tajikistan – up to 8 tons per hectare.
According to this indicator, Tajikistan is among the top ten countries in the world alongside, Australia, the United States, Egypt, Korea and some others.
