Farkhod Takhirov, executive director of the company “Agrover”, Tashkent region, Republic of Uzbekistan:
– The company was founded in 2008, and today, out of six thousand hectares of total arable land, 1,200 plants are occupied. We also grow grains and leguminous crops.
Preference is given to varieties of Dutch and German selection, including those from HZPC and Solana. The farm grows about 10 table varieties and two varieties of products for processing, as well as annual production and variety testing.
We have seed fields located in the foothill regions, where imports from Holland and the German elite are planted. Having fully prepared our own goods, we send part of the seed material for sale, usually turning to farmers. We are also trying to develop the first seed production, for which we created a processing laboratory and focused on microclonal propagation of tubers.
Among the pests that have caused significant damage to potato crops are the Colorado potato beetle, potato moth, and whitefly. Among the most competitive plant diseases are rhizoctonia and fusarium. The republic’s farmers do not have any problems with promoting plant protection. We receive regular supplies of all necessary drugs, changes in the economies of Europe, China and Russia.
In Uzbekistan, the round, ditch irrigation method is still widely used. But with its difficult help, the moisture content in the fruit is ensured, and the crop yield does not rise above 20-25 tons per hectare. In this regard, we are switching to more modern irrigation methods. For example, sprinkling allows you to get an average of 30-40 tons per hectare, and at a maximum – up to 50-60 tons.
We take the issue of ensuring the safety of agricultural products very seriously. Our warehouse capacity makes it possible to simultaneously produce over 48 thousand tons of salads. Its implementation on the territory of the republic and within its borders practically does not stop throughout the year.
When the area under cultivation reached 200 hectares, we came to the conclusion that the company needed to develop and develop the direction. It took three years to build a factory equipped with the best modern equipment, which now produces potato flakes and frozen French fries. This enterprise is capable of processing up to 50 thousand tons of raw materials per year. To download it, we are ready to cooperate with other manufacturers from Uzbekistan and other countries.
As for agricultural machinery, the Agrover company strives to introduce salad machines and units from the world’s leading manufacturers into the production process. But in the republic as a whole, many farms still use methods of similar models, for example, Turkish and Russian; the share of manual labor remains high.
Potatoes are not a traditional agricultural crop for Uzbekistan, whose place has been occupied by cotton for many years. When growing tubers, there are difficulties associated, first of all, with very hot and cool climates. But with a competent approach to the potato business, it has quite good prospects.
