Over the first six months of this year, Tajikistan’s irrigators have provided irrigation water for approximately 525,000 hectares of land, says the official website of the Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation (Agency) under the Government of Tajikistan.
The website highlights that the reclamation condition of 3,788 hectares of land has been improved over the reporting period at a cost of 3.5 million somonis.
This effort is reportedly ongoing, as the government has tasked the Agency with improving the reclamation condition of 9,811 hectares, requiring 10.3 million somonis for this year.
By 2027, the plan includes developing 3,410 new hectares and bringing 900 hectares of abandoned land back into agricultural use.
Financial sources for the first half of the year have included fees for water supply services (1.2 million somonis), water usage fees from farming enterprises (1 million somonis), investment projects (0.7 million somonis), and some others.
However, delayed payments for services have resulted in the Agency accumulating a debt of 132.7 million somonis to Barqi Tojik (the state-run company operating the most electricity generating plants) for electricity used by pumping stations.
Another major issue is the low salaries of irrigation and land reclamation workers. Currently, about 6,000 employees work in this sector, earning an average salary of 879 somoni, which is slightly above the minimum wage in the country, which is equal to 800.00 somonis as of July 1.
To address these issues, the Agency has called on local authorities to ensure timely payments for water supply services and allocate funds for improving the reclamation condition of lands. Additionally, the Agency suggests that necessary funds should be allocated from the budget for the implementation of sectoral and regional state programs and that measures should be taken to attract foreign investments.
