DUSHANBE , March 15, Asia-Plus - This year, Tajikistan plans to have sown 257,183 hectares of lands with cotton.  

Saidmurod Bahriddinov, head of the industrial crops department within the Ministry of Agriculture, has told Asia-Plus that cotton-growing farms in Tajikistan have to date ploughed up 238,382 hectares, which is 92.7 percent of a total area under cotton.  

The cotton-growing farms in the northern province of Sughd have ploughed up 72,112 hectares of areas under cotton (95.9 percent) so far.  75,200 hectares of lands in northern Tajikistan are supposed to be sown with cotton this year.

The southern Khatlon province has ploughed up 144,000 hectares, which is 89.9 percent of the target determined at 160,000 hectares.  

The districts subordinate to the center have already fulfilled their target on ploughing areas under cotton.  Farmers in these districts have ploughed up 22,357 hectares of areas under cotton, which is which is over 100 per cent of the target (102.1 percent).  

Mr. Bahriddinov noted that the target on stockpiling the cottonseeds had already over-fulfilled.  “The farms have stockpiled 34,877 tons of seeds, which is 13 percent more compared to the target determined at 30,852 tons,” the industrial crops department head said, noting that cotton sowing campaign in the southern regions of the republic will start within the third tend-day period of March, weather permitting.  “The mass cotton-sowing campaign will start on April 1 and will finish in the second part of April,” Mr. Bahriddinov said.