QURGHON TEPPA, October 18, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Cotton growers in the southern Khatlon province plan to increase areas under cotton in 2011

Khatlon governor Ghaybullo Afzalov told reporters in Qurghon Teppa on October 15 that areas under cotton in the province will be increased by 35 percent next year.

This year, 150,000 hectares of lands in the country have been allotted to cotton cultivation, and 70 percent of Tajikistan’s cotton fields are in Khatlon, the governor said.

According to him, local cotton growers have realized good profit from the selling of raw cotton this year.  “Buyers offer cash to farmers for the cotton harvest,” Afzalov said, noting that cotton pickers have received 40 to 50 dirams for one kilogram of cotton.

To-date, seven cotton producing districts in Khatlon – Panj, Bokhtar, Shahritus, Hamadoni, Danghara, Vakhsh, and Sarband -- have fulfilled their cotton targets and the province has yielded 182,000 tons of raw cotton by October 15, the governor said.

We will recall that there are 33 cotton producing districts in Tajikistan and 18 of them are in Khatlon province.