About 60,000 tons of cotton have been harvested in Tajikistan in this cotton harvest season. Since the beginning of the cotton harvest season, 16.2 per cent of the planned amount has been harvested. As many as 1,85,817 hectares were allocated in Tajikistan for the cultivation of cotton this year. Cotton fields were expanded at the expense of grain and fodder crop areas.

In 2017, 3,80,000 hectares of cotton were harvested in Tajikistan, 5.2 per cent more than in 2016. Until the middle of the 2000s, cotton was considered one of the two main export goods of Tajikistan (along with aluminum). In the 1980s, about 8,00,000 tons of cotton were harvested annually in Soviet Tajikistan.

At the same time, most of the cotton fiber produced in the country is exported as raw materials. The processing of these products within the country is insignificant. However, cotton makes an important contribution to both the agricultural sector and the country’s economy. Along with primary aluminum, cotton has been one of the major export items for Tajikistan. In 2015, cotton fiber accounted for 23.1 per cent of Tajikistan’s exports. In 2016, cotton fiber’s share in Tajikistan’s exports fell to 16.1 per cent. Last year, cotton accounted for an estimated 13.5 per cent of Tajikistan’s exports.