President intends to raise cotton production in Bukhara region to 1 million tonnes within three years

The new target is 1 million tonnes

On 3 November, at a meeting with residents of Bukhara region and foreign investors, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said he intends to raise cotton production in the region to 1 million tonnes within three years. He recalled that the target previously discussed was 500,000 tonnes — meaning the new benchmark is twice as high as the previous one. According to him, as of 3 November, 4 million 978 thousand tonnes of cotton had been harvested in Uzbekistan, and within three days the country may for the first time reach the 5 million tonne mark. This was reported by Gazeta, citing a report by the Uzbekistan 24 TV channel.

Developing 100,000 hectares of desert

The president also announced the development of 100,000 hectares of desert land in Bukhara region, where cotton and grain are planned to be grown and orchards established. According to him, this requires ensuring access to water, machinery, engineers, partners and technologies. The topic was also discussed at the meeting chaired by the president on 4 November: the founder and head of the Merganteks cotton and textile cluster, Ibrokhim Khamroyev, said that together with specialists he had visited the desert areas beyond Karakul district and stated that there are opportunities, experience and potential to implement the plans. When asked by the president, he added that this year the fields he cultivates are expected to yield 80 to 100 centners of cotton per hectare.

The plans have existed since April, but details have not been disclosed

The possibility of developing 100,000 hectares using modern land use and irrigation technologies had already been considered on 2 April 2026 at a meeting on the development of Bukhara region. At that time, more efficient use of 3 million hectares of pastures was also announced, along with raising the average cotton yield to 52 centners and grain to 100 centners per hectare in 2026, improving water supply and the ameliorative condition of land on an area of 96.8 thousand hectares, saving 453.5 million cubic metres of water, and purchasing 742 units of agricultural machinery. In August, the administration of Bukhara district reportedthat on an area of about 2,000 hectares in the district's desert zone, cotton is grown using Chinese agricultural technologies and drip irrigation under a project of the Uch Karagay cluster and Chinese investors. However, as Gazeta notes, developing 100,000 hectares would require organising water supply for a significantly larger territory, and the timeline for full development of the land, the funding sources and the expected volumes of individual crops have not yet been disclosed.