Uzbekistan says it is avoiding using schoolchildren to harvest cotton this year and has drafted adults in public sector workers. Many classrooms are empty during the harvest time as teachers are sent to the fields to pluck cotton. Education has ceased entirely in some parts of the country as teachers fulfill their cotton quotas. Other public institutions are required to ensure 40 to 70 per cent of staff are in the fields, at any given time.

International pressure on the government has managed to remove children aged 7 to 15 from the fields, and the International Labor Organization was allowed to monitor the cotton harvest last year. However, despite the government's assurances, the use of child and forced labor in Uzbekistan's cotton harvest continues to be a contentious issue. The US government has said Uzbekistan's government continues to be complicit in the use of forced child labor during the cotton harvest and has made no advancement in efforts to eliminate the practice.

The total harvest of cotton in Uzbekistan this year reached 3.4 million tons, up from last year's 3.35 million tones. Gross income from cotton production this year will increase by 12 per cent compared to 2013. This is expected to stimulate domestic textile production and contribute to the increase of exports.