KHUJAND, September 16, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- The Sughd authorities have begun to send city dwellers to cotton fields.

Mukhtor Abdulloyev, a spokesman for the Sughd regional administration, says more than 4000 residents of the cities of Khujand, Isfara, Qairoqqum, Chkalovsk and Taboshar will be sent to cotton fields during weekends.  “They will work in cotton fields for a week and they will be replaced by other city dwellers,” said Abdulloyev, “They will receive at least 50 diram (0.50 somoni) per one kilogram of raw cotton.”

“As of September 14, 36,000 people worked in cotton fields in the northern Sughd province and the local authorities have ordered to double the number of cotton-pickers,” the spokesman added.

65,400 hectares of lands have been allocated to cotton cultivation in northern Tajikistan this year, which is 11,000 hectares more than last year.  Sughd cotton growers are expected to yield 105,000 tons of raw cotton this year.

In 2010, cotton producing districts in Sughd province yielded 92,000 tons of raw cotton, which was 2 percent that it was originally planned.

According to reliable source, students from Sughd higher educational institutions will not be sent to cotton fields this year.