DUSHANBE, November 5, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik cotton growers have fulfilled this year’s cotton target that has been established at 401,000 tons of raw cotton and are continuing to gather cotton in addition tot heir obligation, an official source at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) said.

Cotton growers in the southern Khatlon province have fulfilled their target, which was 270,000 tons of cotton.

The northern Sughd province has reportedly overfulfilled its cotton target by 2.0 percent.  Cotton growers in Sughd have yielded 112,600 tons of cotton by November 5.

Cotton growers of districts subordinate to the center (RRP) have yielded some 18,700 tons of raw cotton to this day, which is 75 percent of the target.

The country has yielded more than 401,000 tons of raw cotton by November 5.

We will recall that a cotton-harvesting campaign in Tajikistan has started with a one-month delay this year because of continuous rains during the spring.

This year, Tajik farmers have planted cotton on some 200,000 hectares.  Last year, 203,000 hectares were allocated to cotton cultivation and farmers produced 403,000 tons of cotton in 2011.

Cotton makes an important contribution to both the agricultural sector and the national economy.  Cotton accounts for some 60 percent of agricultural output, supports 75 percent of the rural population, and uses 45 percent of irrigated arable land.  At the national level, it is an important source of both export earnings and tax revenue.  Tajikistan is the world’s fourth largest exporter of cotton, and there is strong demand on international markets for its high quality product.