DUSHANBE, August 18, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Cotton farmers in the southern Khatlon province have yielded the first several hundred tons of cotton.

By August 18, Qumsangir, Panj, Shahritus and Rumi districts have yielded 50 to 100 tons of raw cotton each, Sadullo Beknazarov, the head of the Khatlon agriculture directorate, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, local farmers have planted cotton on 100,598 hectares this year and the massive cotton-harvesting campaign will be launched in the province on August 25.

In the meantime, the source at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) says that in all, 162,300 hectares have been allotted to cotton cultivation this year and farmers are expected to yield 380,000 tons of raw cotton.

We will recall that last year, Tajik farmers planted cotton on 170,400 hectares and produced 296,000 tons of raw cotton.