BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
1/23/09
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Tajikistan may abandon the practice of forcing unproductive farms to grow cotton in order to fulfill government quotas, the Minister of Agriculture has suggested.
Speaking at a press conference in Dushanbe on January 22, Minister Qosim Qosimov said the government would help farmers make the change from cotton to other crops more suitable to their circumstances. According to a report distributed by the Asia-Plus news agency, the minister said farms producing less than 2.5 tons of cotton per hectare should not be compelled to grow it.
"The ministry will not insist that they should grow cotton," he said.
He also urged farmers to pay off their outstanding debts so that they could receive fresh financing for the upcoming year. "Farmers should hurry to pay off their debts in order to receive new loans in spring," he added.
Tajikistan in 2007 produced 419,597 tons of raw cotton, which was 76.3 percent of the national cotton target. In 2008, the harvest produced 249,022 tons of raw cotton - just 63.2 percent of the target. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Posted January 23, 2009 © Eurasianet
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