Uzbekistan Agrarian Sector
Agriculture in Uzbekistan
In the economic development of Uzbekistan agriculture an, in the first turn, the cotton growing occupies the leading place. This Brunch provides the population with the necessary food staff, and various Brunches of Industry – with raw materials.
It is necessary to underline the importance of the President’s of The Republic of Uzbekistan Decree from January 9, 2006 “On measures for deepening economic reforms in fruit and vegetables production and viniculture”.
Favorable natural geographic conditions, traditional industry and skills of the people are the factors facilitating broad development of gardening, viniculture, livestock farming and other brunches of Agrarian sector. Natural geographical conditions of Uzbekistan represent deserts as the major of land and 15% (or 4.2 millions ha) are for irrigated area. By that the Republic among the CIS States, concedes only Russia (6.1 million ha). Almost all agricultural production of the Republic is grown on irrigated lands. Thus the size of irrigated fund of the Republic is limited by shortage not of land but water resources which already are practically depleted. In this connection on the territory of Uzbekistan tens of artificial canals have been constructed, and for the last years – big reservoirs. The issues of efficient use of available land resources and their protection are very actual. Thus persistent extension of irrigated lands allowed along with the development of the main Brunch of crop cultivation, cotton growing to creat in old irrigated districts the new areas for the Brunch in Central Fergana and Surkhan-Sherabad valleys, Golodnaya, Karshi and Jizak steppes. Further development of new lands will be continued in the Republic.
Besides cotton, of industrial crops, ambary and jute are cultivated in the republic. The main center for those crops is Tashkent province.
Urghut district in Samarkand province is famous for tobacco growing, a profitable agricultural production. Its sales to the CIS countries are greatly increasing from year to year. Almost everywhere in the republic cereal crops are cultivated, mainly winter and spring wheat. The plantings of rice have interregional significance; the main regions of that crop are Karakalpakstan and Khorezm province.
Also the important role in the republic belongs to livestock production. and its main branch of sheep breeding. Sheep breeding has historically formed Caracul sheep breeding. The major districts of that branch are Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya, Samarkand. Jizak provinces and Karakalpakstan. Caracul pelts of different colours are well-known in many foreign countries and are of great demand And thus caracul deserves to be as soft gold.
Caracul sheep breeding has its own specific characteristics, i: develops in deserted zones, in the places where it is impossible to breed other kind of sheep breeding and to find alternative employment for local residents. Only caracul sheep is adaptive for high temperature falls. As it is known, about 80% of pastures of the republic have strong saline water sources. Caracul sheep drinks this very water.
