Kyrgyzstan plans to cultivate higher profit crops
Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry Bakyt Torobaev assigned seed-growing farms across the country to cultivate high-income crops and to promote their widespread adoption among farmers.
According to this directive, citrus crops (mandarins, oranges, olives, etc.) are being tested in the Batken region. Additionally, on the basis of the "Otuz-Adyr" branch of the state enterprise Kyrgyz Variety Testing Station in the Kara-Suu district, high-margin “Producer Saïs” watermelons imported from Turkey are being grown on an area of 4 hectares, and “Lojane” tomatoes imported from the Netherlands are being cultivated on 2 hectares. Moreover, five high-margin grape seedling varieties are being grown and tested at the “Oomat-Agro” production seed-growing cooperative. Similar trials are actively being conducted in several other regions of the country.
“All seed-growing farms must conduct trials of high-income crops that can bring substantial benefits even from 1–2 hectares of land. These crops should be studied and adopted, and then farmers should be trained in the correct cultivation methods. For each crop—be it grapes, watermelons, or tomatoes—that yields high profits on farms, training seminars should be organized at regional and district levels and shared with the population.
Farmers need to increase their sources of income by cultivating crops with high profit potential. At the same time, in order to conserve irrigation water, drip irrigation systems must be introduced for these crops,” Bakyt Torobaev emphasized.