KULOB, September 10, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Inspection by the branch of Tojikstandart (Tajik state agency for standardization, certification, metrology and trade inspection) in Kulob has revealed that only six of ten cotton ginneries operating in Khatlon’s Kulob zone have been made ready for receiving cotton so far, Rustam Nematov, the head of Tojikstandart’s branch in Kulob, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, cotton-ginning factories Pakhtai Kulob (Kulob district), M-Kamolov (Vose district), Boham (Hamadoni district) and Nekrouz (Farkhor district) are not yet ready for receiving raw cotton, while local farming units are expected to begin taking raw cotton to the cotton ginneries within the next two weeks.

Nematov added that the cotton ginneries have not yet determined a final cost of processing rat cotton.  “However, most likely they will set the cotton-processing price at the rate of 150 U.S. dollars per one ton of raw cotton,” he said.