DUSAHNBE, April 5, Asia-Plus - Of the targeted 258,589 hectares of lands, some 26,500 hectares have been sown with cotton so far, Asia-Plus has learned from Saidmurod Bahriddinov, head of the industrial crops department of the Ministry of Agriculture.  The national target of cotton for this year has been determined at 550,000 tons.

According to him, cotton-growing farms in northern Tajikistan plan to sow with cotton 75,200 hectares of lands this year.  So far, they have sown with cotton 503 hectares (0.7 percent).  

Southern province of Khatlon plans to provide 160,000 hectares of lands under cotton.  The Khatlon farmers have sown cotton in the area of 25,931 hectares, which is 16.2 percent of the target.   

Cotton growers in the districts subordinate to the center (central Tajikistan ) have not set yet to the cotton-sowing campaign because of weather conditions.  “In this region, the cotton-sowing campaign is supposed to be launched on April 10,” Bahriddinov said, noting that farms in central Tajikistan intend to sow cotton in the area of more than 22,000 hectares.  

The agriculture ministry official has also noted that some cotton-growing farms in the country have not yet been provided with mineral fertilizers properly.