KHUJAND, November 28, Asia-Plus  -- The first 4,000 tons of cotton in the Sughd province have been certified in accordance with international standards, the Sughd agriculture directorate head Bobojon Domulloyev said.

According to him, the cotton has been certified at the lab for assessing of cotton fibers that was established in the province by closed joint-stock company (CJSC), JV Tajikistan-WIS (Wakefield Inspection Services, Great Britain).  “The laboratory allows determining quality of cotton fiber in accordance with international practice and certification of the cotton allows raising cost of the Sughd cotton on the world market,” Domulloyev said.

“On the Liverpool Cotton Exchange, the Sughd cotton was usually realized under the listing of the cotton from Central Asia,” said the Sughd agricultural official, “In the meantime, major part of cotton in some Central Asian countries is gathered by cotton-harvesters, while the Sughd cotton is gathered by hand.  As a result of it, we had been receiving up to 85.00 dollars less from one ton.”    

In January, the laboratory will receive new American equipment that will allow speeding up the process of determining the cotton fiber quality.