Uzbekistan harvests record volume of grain
By Aynur Jafarova
Uzbekistan harvested 8.05 million tons of grain in 2014.
Uzbek President Islam Karimovsaid such a grain harvest was collected for the first time in the country's agricultural history despite adverse weather and climatic conditions.
The harvest in 2013 amounted to 7.61 million tons of grain. The grain harvest rose 5.8 percent this year.
Uzbekistan, which 23 years ago bought 5 million tons of grain a year, can now provide enough grain for its own population of 31 million and also export grain, the president said in a letter to grain farmers in connection with the completion of the grain harvesting season.
Grain procurement has risen from 940,000 tons to 8 million tons, and grain yield has risen from 17 to 55 centners per hectare.
This year Uzbekistan conducted replenishment of grain crops with 12.7 million tons of organic fertilizers, over 11 tons per hectare on average.
Some 5.117 million tons of the total amount of grain or 60 percent of harvest remains at the disposal of farmers.