DUSHANBE, October 2, 2015, Asia-Plus -- The grain harvesting campaign is underway in Tajikistan.

“Tajik farmers have produced almost 790,000 tons of grains by October 2, which is 63,000 tons more than in the same period last year,” an official source at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) Crop Production Department told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, an average grain productivity was 2.67 tons/ha.

This year, Tajik farmers have reportedly planted grains on 324,000 hectares.

Meanwhile, Tajikistan has imported more than 467,000 tons of wheat and 88,600 tons of wheat flour over the first seven months of this year.  Compared to the same period last year, the country’s grain imports have reportedly increased by 12.5 percent, while the wheat flour imports have decreased by 15.2 percent.  Kazakhstan provides the bulk of Tajikistan’s wheat and wheat flour imports.

Winter crops (mainly wheat and barley) account for about 80 percent of the country’s total cereal output.