Measures for the development of potato growing have been identified

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the presentation on plans and proposals for the development of potato growing.

Today, the demand for potatoes in our country is almost 4 million tons. More than 80 percent of this volume is provided by domestic production, the rest is due to imports.

High imports are caused by a number of problems in the field. So, today potatoes are grown on 253 thousand hectares, and the average yield is 163 quintals per hectare. This is a very low indicator compared to other countries.

Another problem is related to the use of seeds. Due to limited access to elite seeds and R1 seeds, the population and farms have to plant imported or low-quality local seeds. There are not enough cultivated lands and greenhouses for growing high-yielding seed potatoes, as well as warehouses for its storage. There are no laboratories for testing for viral and bacterial diseases that cause a decrease in yield.

During the meeting, proposals were discussed to address these pressing issues and the development of potato production and its seed production.

To date, there are 250 different varieties of potatoes in the national gene pool, 4 enterprises and research institutes have started creating domestic seeds from 27 varieties.

One of them is the Uzbek-Korean joint venture in Samarkand. In order to expand its capabilities, at the first stage it is planned to allocate 500 hectares of land in Bulungur, Tailak and Samarkand districts, as well as 2,000 hectares in Bostanlyk district of Tashkent region, Bakhmal and Zaamin districts of Jizzakh region, Kitab and Shakhrisabz districts of Kashkadarya region.

For the development of seed production, it is planned to build greenhouses and cold storage facilities with an area of 4 hectares at the Research Institute of Vegetable, Melon Crops and Potato Growing and an area of 1 hectare at the Green Korea Agro Invest enterprise in Samarkand. These projects are funded by the World Bank, a full cycle of growing potato seeds by in vitro method will be established.

Also, at the Samarkand branch of the Tashkent State Agrarian University, a potato seed production center will be created on the principle of "science – education – production". A $4 million laboratory will be launched to identify hidden viral diseases and assess potato quality indicators.

It was noted that as a result of the implementation of such measures, the domestic demand for seed potatoes will be fully satisfied from 2025.

The Head of our state approved these proposals and gave instructions to increase the production of seed potatoes and improve their quality.

The Ministry of Agriculture has been tasked with distributing 500 tons of elite potato seeds to 1 thousand 700 households for free, as well as allocating preferential financial resources to potato harvesters.