DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 14. Tajikistan is set to harvest around 1.1 million tons of potatoes in 2023, Trend reports.
According to the Ministry of agriculture of Tajikistan, this year, the cultivation area for potato has expanded by 2,474 hectares compared to the previous year. Statistics show that a total of 58,566 hectares of land are set for potato farming, with 33,523 hectares already harvested.
As of July 1, the country has already collected 261,510 tons of potatoes. Officials expect additional harvests before the season concludes.
As for now, the Khatlon region has yielded 165,762 tons of potatoes since the year-start, while the Sughd region has contributed 43,342 tons. In Vakhdat, 20,840 tons have been harvested, and the Rudaki district has gathered 11,527 tons.
Moreover, Tajikistan imported 1,677 tons of premium seed potatoes from foreign countries since the beginning of 2023 to ensure a successful harvest.
Meanwhile, farmers in the Khatlon region are preparing for a second planting of potatoes, scheduled to begin in August. They anticipate a new harvest by November, with preparations underway for soil and seed selection.
Agricultural production in Tajikistan amounted to 49.3 billion somoni ($4.8 billion) in 2022, which is an increase of 8 percent compared to 2021.