Shavkat Mirziyoyev evaluated a presentation of plans and proposals for boosting potato farming, his press service reports.
Uzbekistan now has a need for over 4 million tons of potatoes, with more than 80% grown locally and the remainder imported. However, in comparison to other nations, the output is insufficient, with potatoes cultivated on just 253 thousand hectares and a median harvest of 163 centners due to the use of poor-quality seeds and a shortage of cultivable land and greenhouses for high-yielding seed potatoes.
A number of suggestions were put forward at the conference in order to tackle these problems, such as the creation of domestic seed potatoes and seed production centers, the provision of land for the enhancement of the Uzbek-Korean collaboration in Samarkand, and the construction of a center for potato seed manufacturing at the Tashkent State Agrarian University's Samarkand branch.
These programs will be funded by the World Bank, and a $4 million laboratory will be established to identify viral infections and potato quality markers.
The plans, if executed properly, are projected to entirely meet the national demand for seed potatoes by 2025. Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved the plans and directed the Ministry of Agriculture to deliver 500 tons of premium potato seedlings for free to 1,700 families and to provide preferred funding to potato farmers.
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