Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Experts from the Institute of Macroeconomic and Regional Research (IMRI) analyzed the role of subsidiary farms in growing agricultural products in Uzbekistan.

Today more than 5.5 million families have their own subsidiary plots in Uzbekistan, which have at their disposal more than 505,000 hectares of land. As of 1 January 2024, dekhkan and subsidiary farms contain more than 12.8 million heads of cattle (90.8% of the total), 18.7 million heads of sheep and goats (77.5%).

Subsidiary farms in Uzbekistan have significant advantages among the CIS countries, in particular, in comparison with the countries of Central Asia.

Despite the similarity of climatic conditions, there is a big difference in the level of development of subsidiary farms.

According to the Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS, in 2022 the share of income from self-employment (including household plots) in Uzbekistan was 4.2 times higher than in Kazakhstan, 2.4 times higher than in Kyrgyzstan, and 1.7 times higher than in Tajikistan.

As the analysis shows, 63.1% of the total volume of agricultural products grown in 2023 will come from dehkan and subsidiary farms. Their share in crop production was 37.9%, livestock production - 88.4%.

A high share of dekhkan and subsidiary farms in the structure of grown agricultural products was noted in Navoi (72.0%), Kashkadarya (69.3%), Khorezm (68.3%), Surkhandarya (67.1%) and Tashkent (66.9). %) areas.

An analysis of agricultural products produced in January-December 2023 showed that 59.9% of vegetables, 69.9% of potatoes, 39.8% of melons, 51.4% of fruits and berries, 52.4% of grapes were grown by farmers and subsidiary farms. As for livestock products, this category of farms produced 84.9% of meat, 92.8% of milk, 57.9% of eggs and 82.1% of wool.

By region, the highest level of share of meat production in dekhkan and subsidiary farms was observed in the Kashkadarya region (94.8%), the Republic of Karakalpakstan (94.6%) and the Jizzakh region (93.4%). The highest shares in milk production in this category of farms were noted in Jizzakh (96.4%), Surkhandarya (96.1%) and Kashkadarya (96.0%) regions.

Considering the importance of dekhkan and subsidiary farms in ensuring the country’s food security, government support has been strengthened in this direction. In particular, during the coronavirus pandemic, dekhkan farms and household plots were included in economic and social anti-crisis programs.

The importance of further support for dekhkan farms was also outlined in the Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy. According to this document, it is planned to introduce a system of subsidizing 50 percent of insurance compensation to farmers, as well as providing all types of subsidies through a single platform “Agrosubsidy” based on the principle of “walking distance”. At the same time, the primary criteria for supporting dehkan and personal subsidiary plots will be ensuring income and employment of the population.