BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 12. Trend News Agency presents an overview of the most important events in 2022 in the agricultural sector of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan is an agro-industrial country, with about half of the population engaged in this sector, thus agriculture accounts for a major part of the country’s economy. Uzbekistan grows various fruits, along with cotton, rice, grape, fodder.
State initiatives
Uzbek authorities pay great attention to development of the agricultural sector. In this regard, modern greenhouses are regularly created, as well as intensive gardens, seedling collection points and cold storage facilities are built in the country.
Speaking of modern technologies being used in agriculture, Uzbekistan installed a sprinkling irrigation system in the Yangiyul district of the Tashkent region in 2022, which allows to irrigate a field of more than 40 hectares.
Furthermore, in 2022 Uzbek forestry enterprises planned to organize plantations of medicinal plants on an area of 4,984 hectares. In the spring of 2022, 27 state forestry enterprises created experimental plantations of blueberries, raspberries, and currants on an area of 11.5 hectares.
In addition, experimental plantations of lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme, etc., were created by 54 state forestry enterprises in on an area of 195.1 hectares.
As for cotton cultivation, Uzbekistan planned to launch the production of naturally colored cotton. Currently Uzbek scientists research varieties of cotton and try to enrich the qualities of cotton species with light brown, dark brown, reddish, yellow, light green and dark green colors. This will improve economic efficiency of agriculture and increase the export potential of cotton.
International cooperation
Creation of new grape varieties
In 2022, Uzbekistan established scientific cooperation with Russian National Research Center – “Kurchatov Institute”. Scientists of the two countries were jointly developing new seedless grape varieties. In this regard, new vineyards on 50,000 hectares were set up in Uzbekistan.
Organization of cotton clusters
South Korean POSCO International company (South Korea’s largest trading company) and Uzbekistan signed an agreement worth $65 million on organization of cotton cluster in Uzbekistan’s Fergana region.
Following the agreement, the cluster will be organized on a 5,000-hectare area of the Fergana region. It is planned to expand the cultivation area to 35,000 hectares by 2025.
The sides also discussed cultivation and processing of export-oriented crops in the Fergana region, export of fruits and vegetables to the Korean market.
Loan allocation for innovations of agricultural sector
Uzbek Ministry of Agriculture and the Austrian UniCredit bank signed and agreement on opening a preferential credit line to finance the modernization of the agricultural sector. Following the agreement, the bank allocated a preferential loan of 7.9 million euros for innovations in the agricultural sector of Uzbekistan. The loan was intended to be used to equip agricultural enterprises with innovative rain irrigation technologies of the Austrian Bauer Gmbh company.
Prospects of supplying agricultural products to Qatar
Qatar and Uzbekistan have discussed establishing supply lines for fresh and dried fruits from Uzbekistan in 2022. The parties talked about the current state of bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and considered the possibilities of expanding trade, including logistics routes, opening trade missions, etc.
Support to Uzbek farmers and fertilizer producers
USAID has allocated $2 million to support farmers in Uzbekistan in 2022 The funding will help protect vulnerable groups of population from the growing global food crisis and will be used to increase the volume and quality of fertilizers produced in Uzbekistan. The aim of the assistance is to strengthen the country’s capacity to ensure food security in the context of the global food crisis.
Grant to Uzbekistan to improve labor conditions in cotton industry
The US Department of Labor announced the award of a $2 million cooperative agreement to support the improvement of labor conditions in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry. The funding aims to build the capacity of Uzbek cotton enterprises to adhere to international labor standards and enact effective labor compliance systems.
Source: TREND News Agency