KULOB, September 20, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- By September 20, five cotton producing districts in the Kulob zone of Khatlon province have yielded a total of 11,726 tons of raw cotton, which is 22.87 percent of this year’s target, Abdullo Rajabov, a lead specialist with the Kulob agriculture directorate, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, Farkhor tops the local cotton producing districts in terms of cotton production, having reached 29.16 percent of its cotton target by Monday.  Hamadoni district with 28.57 percent and Danghara district with 20 percent are also among the top three.

“The cotton-harvesting campaign is progressing in the Kulob region and local cotton-ginning factories are currently competing with each other for raw materials,” the specialist said, noting that the price of one ton of raw cotton in the area has risen from US$550 in late August to US$700.