Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - Under the chairmanship of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a video conference meeting was held on 21 November on the issues of rational use of land resources, maintaining land records and improving the quality of cadastre services.

Economic growth, food security, jobs and investment in the regions depend not least on land resources. Over the past three years, due to digitalization, 40 million hectares, or 90 percent of all land in our country, have been registered with a cadastre.

At the same time, the market value of 44 million 800 thousand hectares of land, 8 million 300 thousand buildings and structures has not been assessed. Currently, the conditional cadastral value of existing buildings and structures is US$70 billion. Their real market value can be at least 4-5 times higher. Considering the market value of the land they sit on, they are a major economic asset.

Through aerial photography and the use of modern drones, large untapped land resources are being identified. For example, in  Karshi district, where 45 thousand hectares are listed as crop land, it was revealed that 5.1 thousand hectares indicated as pastures are actually also irrigated land. And these are lost budget revenues, jobs and incomes.

In general, documents confirming the right to 286 thousand hectares of agricultural land are incomplete. The legal status of 460 thousand hectares of land allocated for permanent use is unclear. The documented area of 159 thousand hectares and the actual one differ.

As a result, a total of more than 900 thousand hectares of agricultural land have not been registered for cadastral registration. Due to the lack of a cadastre, it is officially impossible to lease these lands for secondary lease for growing secondary crops. As a result, at least 300 thousand jobs, products from re-crops and informal rentals remain unaccounted for.

In this regard, the task was set to study the efficiency of using such lands. If dehkans and farmers effectively use the land, a lease agreement will be concluded with them and the plots will be registered in the cadastre. Land that is used irrationally will be returned to the khokimiyats’ reserve.

The responsible ministries have been instructed to put this system into practice, carry out aerial photography next year and complete the cadastre of agricultural land.

During a trip to Surkhandarya region last week, the head of state pointed out the possibilities of growing export-oriented types of vegetables. There are many people in the regions who want to do this.

In this regard, a decision was made to allocate at least 100 hectares of free land in each district for the cultivation of export-oriented vegetables. There will be presentations on growing methods, and producers will undergo training at a “farmer school.” Guaranteed delivery of productive seeds will be established. The sown lands will be sold at auction with the right to lease to those who know their business and have experience in exporting.

At the meeting, attention was paid to the issue of proper land accounting.

Today, 817 thousand hectares of land have turned into populated and industrial zones, but in the reports their category is indicated as agricultural land. The Agency for Cadastre and Khokims was instructed to eliminate these uncertainties and correctly reflect the actual land balance in the reports.

There is also a lot of unregistered land in the water sector. The way to get additional economic benefit from them is to fully cover them with the cadastre. In short, this will be an additional reserve for both jobs and food.

The task was set to document the lands along canals and collectors, near natural lakes and rivers, and transfer them to the population for growing export crops

In the road sector there are no documents on individual internal roads and adjacent lands. For example, in Karakalpakstan and Khorezm, more than 2.7 thousand vacant plots have been identified that can be put up for auction after the cadastral registration of internal roads. Therefore, next year, in parallel with the repair of internal roads, it is planned to prepare their cadastre within the framework of the Initiative Budget and My Road projects.

The issue of efficient land use was analyzed in detail at the meeting.

Over the past five years, 42.5 thousand hectares have been withdrawn from agriculture and transferred to the category of residential and industrial lands. However, the khokims of some regions, districts and cities are not able to use them effectively. In particular, 17.5 thousand hectares of land in 100 districts, the category of which was changed, were neither transferred to entrepreneurs nor put up for auction. There are also empty lots in industrial zones. As a result, the budget lost billions of soums in revenue.

The khokims were warned of the need to speed up work in this direction.

Training personnel for the cadastre field and improving their skills are also an important task. Today, the quality of training of specialists is not at the proper level. Some faculties and departments were opened inappropriately, and educational programs lag behind the times.

In this regard, the need to organize modern laboratories, provide universities with new educational literature and qualified specialists from abroad was emphasized.

At the end of the meeting, the state of executive discipline in ministries, khokimiyats and departments was touched upon.

– We are carrying out large-scale reforms towards the construction of New Uzbekistan. No area is left out of sight. But reforms should not remain on paper. Heads of ministries and industries, khokims are obliged to ensure their unconditional implementation,” the President said.

It was noted that some managers, in pursuit of numbers, forget about quality, efficiency and rigor. Strict instructions were given to ensure executive discipline and adhere to the deadlines of all programs, road maps and projects.

Information from responsible persons was heard on the issues discussed at the meeting.