Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 16
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Tajik gardeners will buy 10,000 seedlings of apricot, peach and apple trees from Uzbekistan's Fergana Research Institute of Horticulture and hope to get the first harvest of fruits within a year, the East Fruit analytical company told Trend.
According to the information, seedlings have been purchased for new plantations with a total area of 650 hectares near the town of Saikhun in the Sughd region of Tajikistan, 400 hectares of which are allocated for intensive gardening with drip irrigation.
The company noted that intensive gardening is not very common in Tajikistan, while Uzbekistan has accumulated considerable experience in this direction. That being said, the Ferghana region of Uzbekistan and the Sughd region of Tajikistan are both located in the Ferghana valley and have similar climatic conditions, so that it will be easier for seedlings to adapt to the new place.
Seedlings of the purchased fruit tree types can also be found in Tajikistan, the company added, but in amounts insufficient to meet the increasing demand of Tajikistan's horticulture. The area of orchards around Saikhun is planned to be increased to 2,000 hectares at the first stage of the program for development of fallow lands.
In January-October 2018, trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan amounted to $316.3 million, of which $184.0 million accounted for exports from Uzbekistan, and $132.4 million for imports from Tajikistan.
Overall, during the period, exports of fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan exceeded one million tons and reached $732.5 million, which is 43.3 percent more than the same period last year.
The main trade partners of Uzbekistan in the supply of agricultural products are Kazakhstan (502,100 tons, worth $343.1 million, 46.8 percent), Russia (200,500 tons, worth $139.3 million, 19 percent) and Kyrgyzstan (76,800 tons, worth $69 million, 9.4 percent).
East Fruit is a platform created to increase the income of producers by raising the efficiency of production, storage, processing and marketing of vegetables and fruits. The project is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and EU4Business.
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