DUSHANBE, January 19, 2011, Asia-Plus - According to the statistical data from the Ministry of Agriculture, all categories of farms last year produced 1.261 million tons of cereals, including 911,821 tons of wheat.

Compared to 2009, Kazakh wheat imports into Tajikistan in 2010 decreased by 200 tons.  “Current Tajikistan’s annual requirements in wheat are 1.429 million tons, while the country is able to meet only 70-80 percent and the remainder, almost 500,000 tons, is delivered from other countries,” the source said.

The MoA specialists say 200,000 hectares will be allocated to cereals this year and local farmers are expected to produce no less than 1.2 million tons of cereals this year.

Kazakhstan and Russia provide the bulk of Tajikistan’s grain imports.  Kazakhstan last year accounted for 96 percent of Tajikistan’s grain imports.

The price for a 50-kilogram sack of local superior grade wheat flour rose 35 percent in a year to January 1, 2011, reaching 115 somoni (equivalent to US$26.12) and the price for a 50-kilogram sack of Kazakh wheat flour rose 33 percent over the report period, reaching 120 somoni (US$27.25).

We will recall that grain production in Tajikistan exceeded one million tons for the first time in 2009.  In 2009, Tajik farmers produced more than 1.25 million tons of cereals, including almost 900,000 tons of wheat.  In 2008, Tajikistan produced 952,000 tons of cereals, including some 700,000 tons of wheat.