Uzbekistan set to increase organic cropland to 100,000 hectares within next 3 years

TASHKENT. Nov 29 (Interfax) - Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev set the goal of increasing the area for cultivation of organic products at a meeting on enlarging production, processing and exports of fruit and vegetables, Uzbek media said on Friday.

"Prices for organic products are twice or three times higher on the global market. However, only 3,900 hectares of land in ten districts of Uzbekistan have the organic certificate," the media quoted Mirziyoyev as saying.

It is planned to support farmers cultivating organic crops, Mirziyoyev said. For instance, preparations of such lands and the issuance of Organic, Global Gap, Halal and Kosher certificates will be subsidized.

"The task of increasing organic cropland to 10,000 hectares by 2025 and to 100,000 hectares over the next three years has been set," the media said.

The meeting also addressed processing of fruit and vegetables, the media said.

Crops such as cabbage, beets and onions remain in the fields due to the decline in prices during the peak ripening period, Mirziyoyev said. A significant portion of the watermelon harvest was also not collected either this year. "However, surplus products can be processed, dried or turned into food additives for export; these products are in demand by food industry enterprises," he said.

He called for active implementation of the shock freezing technology to ensure year-round export. Ten agricultural logistics centers, more than 1,000 refrigerated warehouses and over 40,000 hectares of industrial intensive orchards and vineyards will be created.

The meeting participants were informed that Uzbekistan enlarged fruit and vegetable exports by $370 million year-on-year to more than $2 billion in 2024 and aspired for increasing the exports to $3.5 billion in 2025.

According to the Statistics Agency, Uzbekistan produced 23 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables in 2023.