KHUJAND, June 21, 2011, Asia-Plus -- To raise the rate of income of Tajik farmers the Productivity Agriculture in Tajikistan (PRO-ART) project, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has launched a program to instruct heads of 280 farming units in Isfara, Asht, Konibodom and Bobojonghafurov districts in Sughd province in Turkish technology on afterripening processing of apricots.

The PRO-ART specialist in market development, Bakhtiyor Abduvohidov, says four local organizations in each of the mentioned districts have been trained and they, in turn, have trained 70 farming units in new methods of processing apricots.   

Of Tajikistan’s total land area, only 6.5 percent is arable – and natural resources remain scarce, which makes unassisted agricultural intensification efforts particularly challenging.  The country’s labor force is also in dire condition, with an estimated one million laborers traveling out of the country regularly for work, partially due to the lack of income opportunity from agricultural efforts.  The agriculture sector – involving 67 percent of the labor force – continues to be an area in great need of international assistance.

The Productive Agriculture in Tajikistan (PRO-APT) project seeks to address these agriculture sector needs by offering the tools necessary for better access to quality inputs, greater crop yields and better market linkages.  PRO-APT is a five-year (2009-2014), $9.7 million project funded by USAID.  The project’s various components are implemented by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), Mennonite Economic Development Association (MEDA) and E-NOETEC Consulting. PRO-APT is designed to increase farmers’ productivity of traditional agricultural crops and strengthen the capacity and profitability of private sector agribusinesses.