DUSHANBE, September 23, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A mass cotton-harvesting campaign is progressing in the country and farmers in Khatlon and Sughd provinces have yielded some 42,000 tons of raw cotton by September 22, Muhammadi Ormonov, the head of the grain and industrial crops department within the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, cotton-growing districts subordinate to the center will join Khatlon and Sughd in cotton-harvesting campaign within the next few days.

Ormonov noted that more than 2,000 employees of various enterprises and organizations have been involved in cotton-harvesting campaign this year.

This year, Tajik farmers have planted cotton on an area of 170,408 hectares, including 108,206 hectares in Khatlon, 54,596 hectares in Sughd and some 8,000 hectares in districts subordinate to the center.