KHUJAND, August 29, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Farmers in the northern Sughd province have started cotton-harvesting campaign.  

“The preliminary cotton harvest has begun in the majority of the cotton-growing districts in the province,” Davron Boboyev, deputy head of the Sughd agriculture directorate, told Asia-Plus today.   

This year, cotton has been planted on an area of 63,000 hectares.  “Water is enough for one more final watering,” Boboyev said, noting that fertilization was completed before August 1.

According to him, the province plans to yield 171,300 tons of raw cotton this year.  The target for 2007 was the same, however, the Sughd farmers managed to yield some 125,000 tons of cotton last year, which was 73 percent of the target.