The relevant agencies say Tajikistan increased rise, wheat, potato and fruit imports in 2023 though production of potatoes, rice and fruits increased in the country last year.
The Food Security Committee under the Government of Tajikistan says Tajikistan last year imported more than 975,000 tons of wheat, which is 48,000 tons more than in 2022.
According to data of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Tajik farmers last year produced 861,000 tons of wheat, which is 8.0 percent fewer than in 2022.
Tajikistan also imported 65,000 tons of wheat flour last year, which is 3,200 tons more than in 2022.
Rice imports reportedly increased last year by 5,000 tons, reaching more than 33,000 tons.
Despite a record fruit harvest collected by Tajik farmers last year (about 665,000 tons, which is 30 percent more than in 2022), the fruit imports in 2023 increased by 6,700 tons, reaching more than 44,000 tons.
Tajikistan collected a record potato harvest in 2023 – 1.145 million tons, which is 4.6 percent more than in 2022. However, Tajikistan’s potato imports last year increased by 43,000 tons, reaching 46,000 tons (in 2022, Tajikistan imported only 2,800 tons of potatoes).
Tajikistan has imported potatoes from Russia, Pakistan and some other countries.
Specialists note that 2023 is the most productive year for potatoes in the history of independent Tajikistan. Before that the most productive years for potatoes were 2013, 2020, 2021 and 2022. During these years, Tajikistan produced more than 1 million tons of potatoes.
Last year, average potato yields in Tajikistan were about 2.4 tons/ha. In terms of potato yields, Tajikistan is in the second place among the Central Asian nations, being behind only Uzbekistan, which last year yielded more than 3.5 tons of potatoes from one hectare.
According to the latest data of the agencies for statistics of Central Asia’s nations, Tajikistan is in the fourth place among the Central Asian nations in terms of potato production.
