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Case Study
USAID helps return
apricot orchards to their
former glory
Tajik Apricot Market Restored
Photo: Winrock Int.
Khamzaev Farm owner Abdumukim
Mirkarimov (left) appraises the apricot
harvest with farm personnel.
Expert advice from a
USAID program led to a
dramatic increase in orchard
production and quality, and
opened the doors to more
profi table foreign markets
for Tajik farmers.
Challenge
The old Tajik city of Isfara is famous for its apricot orchards.
Apricot production is the main source of income for the population
of this region, and for years the high productivity allowed exports
to countries of the former Soviet Union. But in the last 10 years
orchard production declined dramatically, and product quality did
not meet market standards. Customers stopped purchasing Tajik
apricots.
Initiative
To restore the productivity of the orchards and regain the revenues
they used to bring, Abdumukim Mirkarimov, Tajik entrepreneur and
the owner of the Khamzaev Farm, contacted the USAID Farmerto-
Farmer Program requesting a specialist in apricot husbandry.
The program arranged for professor Wayne Williams to travel to
Tajikistan. The USAID-funded expert focused his efforts on training
the farmers at Khamzaev Farm in modern pruning methods, pest
control, soil analysis, fertilization, and other practices of modern
horticulture. For many of the farmers, this had been their first
encounter with modern practices of pest management and pruning.
In addition to people working at Khamzaev Farm, Williams also
trained owners and workers from 20 neighboring farms, each with
5-6 hectares of orchards. At the request of these farmers, Williams
assessed their orchards and advised on necessary improvements.
Results
Williams’ recommendations were put into practice immediately.
Mirkarimov used his capital to obtain the fertilizer, pruning tools,
and other resources suggested by the expert. He also helped his
neighbors purchase similar supplies for their orchards, while they
agreed to supply Mirkarimov with quality produce for export to
Russia. A year and a half after the USAID expert worked with the
farms, their production rose by 80%. The fruit now meets higher
quality standards, and the farmers are able to sell to the Russian
Siberian market where the wholesale price for fresh apricots is
$3 per kilogram compared to Tajikistan’s $0.15 per kilogram.
Khamzaev Farm and its neighbors signed a $250,000 contract with
Russian customers to deliver 80 tons of fresh and 15 tons of dried
apricots. This contract contrasted with $1,300 sales revenues these
farmers used to receive in the local market before they benefi ted
from the USAID program.
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