KULOB, August 19, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Farming units in Khatlon’s Vose district have started the cotton-harvesting campaign and sent the first tons of raw cotton to the cotton-ginning factory at the local joint-stock company (JSC) Samar.

The cotton-growing farms in the Vose district are funded by Tajikistan’s savings bank, Amonatbonk. 

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Anvar Nodirov, head of Amonatbonk’s branch in the Vose district, said that they had allocated 2.8 million somonis in loans to 93 cotton-growing farms in Vose so far.

“The Vose farmers have planted cotton on an area of totaling 2,100 hectares and they are able to yield at least 5,000 tons for aw cotton this year,” said Nodirov, “The cotton-harvesting campaign in Vose should not be faced with any serious problems this year, because the bank has already provided funds intended for paying farmers’ wages.”  

According to the branch of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) in Kulob, banks have funded production of cotton on more than 20,000 hectares so far.  

In the meantime, cotton growers in Khatlon’s Kulob region have pledged to produce 78,000 tons of raw cotton from 41,650 hectares this year.