DUSHANBE, January 18, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- Blockade of the rail traffic into Tajik southern province of Khatlon has caused serious damage to Tajikistan’s agrarian sector, Minister of Agriculture, Qosim Qosimov, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 17.

The blockade of the rail traffic into the Khatlon province, in particular, affected volumes of Tajik farm produce exports.  “Khatlon province now produces some 50 percent of the country’s agricultural output,” the minister said.

According to him, closure of the Ghalaba-Amuzang rail line has also complicated delivery of seeds and mineral fertilizers to Khatlon.

We will recall that an explosion that occurred at a rail bridge on the Ghalaba-Amuzang rail line in Uzbekistan in mid-November of 2011 severed southern Tajikistan’s rail connection to the outside world.  Later, Uzbekistan reportedly began dismantling this rail line leading into the Tajik southern province of Khatlon.