DUSHANBE, March 31, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Tajik southern districts have already launched a cotton-sowing campaign, according to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).

“To-date, they have planted cotton on 6,000 hectares,” an official source at a MoA told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, Tajikistan has allocated 199,451 hectares to cotton cultivation this year.

In 2013, Tajikistan yielded 392,000 tons of raw cotton, which was 96.4 percent of the last year’s cotton target.

Last year, Tajik farmers reportedly planted cotton on 191,333 hectares, which was 8,133 hectares fewer than in 2012.