Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

From the first days of independence, Uzbekistan has consistently implemented a deeply thought-out agricultural development strategy aimed at ensuring the country's food security.

Since the beginning of the year, pepper sales abroad have brought Uzbekistan more than $ 15 million.

In turn, exports of Uzbek pepper in January-February increased by 10.8 times, follows from the data of the State Statistics Committee. Because of this, pepper has become one of the leaders in the structure of exports of food products, Uzbek media reported.

In total, the volume of exports of fruits and vegetables amounted to more than 175,300 tons and reached $ 86.4 million (growth rate - 83.7 percent).

In the future, these numbers are likely to continue to grow, since the country simplified the export of vegetables and fruits at the end of February.

The main buyers of Uzbek fruits and vegetables are Kazakhstan ($ 17.8 million), Kyrgyzstan ($ 15.1 million) and Russia ($ 10 million).

The level of bitterness of Uzbek varieties of pepper is 3.4 points, while pepper from Indonesia is equal to 7.8 points, that is, Uzbek pepper complies with international standards and is well exported.

At present, a large number of orders for dried and crushed pepper are being formed in Uzbekistan.

Uzbek manufacturers have already managed to conclude agreements with almost all regions of Russia, as well as with South Korea, India, Poland, Georgia, and Moldova.

Experts consider, the harvest per hectare reaches 15-20 tons, from which it is possible to get 3-4 tons of dried red pepper, the cost of which in the world market exceeds $ 8,600.

Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan adopted a resolution “On measures to increase the production of hot peppers (chili) in Uzbekistan on the basis of foreign experience” in January 2018.

In 2018, Indonesia supplied seeds to Uzbekistan. Central Asian country allocated 17,117 hectares of land for planting peppers. It is planned that more than 200,000 tons of crop will be harvested from this area.

According to Uzbekozikovkholding, the country signed contracts with Russia and China for the supply of 40,300 tons of dry pepper for $45.9 million (about $1,140 per ton) in 2018. An agreement to supply 35,000 tons for $ 49 million ($ 1,400 per ton) was signed with a Turkish company. In addition, it is planned to export 762.6 tons of fresh products for $ 617.5 million (about $ 810 per ton).

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz