DUSHANBE, February 7, Asia-Plus -- This year, Tajikistan plans to have produced some 600,000 tons of potato, which is 30,000 toms more than in 2006, Toshali Muqimov, the head of the fruit-and-vegetable-growing department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection (MoAEP), said in an interview with Asia-Plus. 

According to him, farming units plan to have sown potato on an area of 28,500 hectares this year.  “Last year, 27,900 hectares of farmland in Tajikistan were sown with potato,” Muqimov said, adding that Tajikistan in 2006 produced 573,000 tons of potatoes.  

On the high prices of potato in the country, the MoAEP official noted that the price hike has resulted from the rising cost of transportation. 

He added that potato yields depend on quality of seeds.  “Since 2005, the government has annually provided 1 million somonis to purchase potato seeds,” said Muqimov, “At present mainly Russia and Iran provide the bulk of Tajikistan’s seed imports.”