DUSHANBE, January 20, 2015, Asia-Plus -- Tajikistan’s cotton fiber exports last year fell 24.5 percent compared to 2013, Firdavs Asmatbekov, an official with the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, Tajikistan last year exported 86,400 tons of cotton fiber to the amount of 132,400 U.S. dollars.

“In 2013, Tajikistan exported 115,000 tons of cotton fiber to the amount of approximately 190,000 U.S. dollars,” Asmatbekov said.

In 2014, the major trading partners to Tajikistan’s cotton fiber were reportedly Turkey – 40.7 percent, Iran – 21.4 percent, Russia – 15.7 percent, and Pakistan – 13.4 percent.

“Besides, Latvia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Armenia purchased Tajik cotton fiber last year in small volumes,” the Statistics Agency official noted.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Tajik farmers have reduced areas under cotton.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Sijouddin Isroilov, told journalists on January 15 that farming units last year planted cotton on about 178,000 hectares, which was roughly 14,000 hectares fewer than in 2013.

“In 2014, Tajik farmers yielded about 373,000 tons of raw cotton, which is 5.1 percent fewer than it was originally planned,” the deputy minister noted.

He attributed reduction in areas under cotton to, first of all, diversification of the agrarian sector.  “Tajik farmers are free to choose what agricultural crops to plant,” said Isroilov.  “The number of livestock and poultry farms is increasing in the country, and therefore, farmers allocate a part of lands for cereals and feed crops in order to meet needs of these farms.”

Moreover, the international cotton prices are decreasing from year to year, Isroilov added.