President congratulates cotton growers on the first harvest of over 5 million tons in history

Record cotton harvest

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated dehkans, farmers, cluster staff and field workers on the fact that for the first time in the history of Uzbekistan a cotton harvest of more than 5 million tons has been produced, and reported on the results achieved in the sector and the tasks for the coming year. The address was published on the president's website. According to the head of state, despite difficulties related to climate change, the harvest was gathered, 'without leaving it for rainy days,' thanks to the sector's internal capabilities.

Harvest figures

In recent years, cotton yields have grown 2.7-fold — from 21 to 56 centners per hectare. Thanks to water-saving technologies, water consumption has been halved compared with the 1990s. This year, on almost 400 thousand hectares the average yield reached 70 centners per hectare, on another roughly 70 thousand hectares yields of up to 100–110 centners were obtained, and about a thousand farms and clusters achieved an average of 100 centners or more.

Mechanization and profit

85 percent of the grown harvest was collected in 30–35 days with the help of more than 3 thousand cotton-picking machines; in the Jizzakh and Syrdarya regions the level of mechanization reached 100 percent. This year, farmers are expected to receive 13–14 trillion soums in net profit from cotton.

Tasks for next year

For next year, the goal has been set to raise the average yield to 65–70 centners per hectare through high-yield seed varieties, agricultural drones, water- and energy-saving technologies, and the introduction of artificial intelligence. Mirziyoyev also emphasized that as a result of reforms in cotton farming, forced labor has been ended, sown areas have been reduced, and priority is given to modern agricultural technologies.