DUSHANBE, April 9, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- A mass cotton sowing campaign has been launched in Tajikistan, NAzrullo Dadaboyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), told Asia-Plus Thursday afternoon.

According to him, 184,000 hectares have been allocated in the country to cotton this year.

Farmers in the southern province of Khatlon were the first in the country to start the cotton sowing campaign.  All the 18 cotton producing districts of Khatlon launched the cotton sowing campaign last month already.  

Khatlon farmers have planted cotton on more than 23,000 hectares to this day; in all, 127,500 hectares have been allocated in the province to cotton this year.

In Sughd province, farmers have planted cotton on 6,000 hectares so far.  In northern Tajikistan, a mass cotton sowing campaign started on April 5.  In Sughd, nine districts are engaged in cotton production and this year, local farmers will plant cotton on 55,000 hectares.

Khatlon and Sughd provinces plan to finish the cotton-planting campaign by April 20

Districts subordinate to the center have also launched the mass cotton-sowing campaign.  

Last year, Tajik farmers planted cotton on 170,400 hectares and 290,000 tons of cotton were yielded in 2009.