Uzbek Rice Paddies Endangered

Uzbekistan’s beleaguered farmers are facing new difficulties this summer after the authorities moved rice off the list of “strategic crops” grown in the republic.

This move should have been a turning point for many farmers, who are now free to sell their rice harvest on the open market without having to worry about meeting quotas or accepting the low prices offered by the state.

But many claim that local officials are now preventing them from growing rice in favour of cotton – the republic’s biggest money-earner and the favoured crop.

Farmers complain that their rice seedlings have been ploughed back into the earth by state tractors, or that vital water supplies have been withheld by the local authorities - effectively killing the young rice crops, which germinate under water.

“You can’t feed a family with cotton,” said one farmer angrily. “Also, it’s forbidden to sell that crop privately in Uzbekistan. The only place to do so is at state collection agencies which buy at very low prices – and even then, farmers do not always get the money.”

Two northern regions have been affected more than most - Khorezm and the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, which have specialised in rice production for centuries. Figures released by the agriculture and water ministry suggest that these two regions alone were responsible for three-quarters of the 75,500 tonnes of rice Uzbekistan produced in 2003.

Agriculture is still under strict government control in Uzbekistan, and farmers have no choice but to grow the “strategic crops” selected by the authorities as the ones most likely to attract the highest export prices.

The biggest money-maker by far is cotton, which accounts for the bulk of the republic’s income. Local authorities come under great pressure from Tashkent to meet the high cotton quotas laid down at the start of the season, and observers believe this is the root of the pressure now being placed on rice farmers.

Tashkent argues that the farmers should be better off now that they are able to charge the full market rate for rice. Kahramon Yuldashev, who heads the grain department at the agriculture and water ministry, told IWPR that the decision to remove rice from the strategic list was a positive move which would benefit farmers.

“Farmers will have more freedom,” he argued. “Now they can grow rice outwith the control of the state and will no longer be obliged to hand over part of their harvest at government-set prices, as was the case previously.”

Yuldashev, who describes the farmers as “true professionals”, told IWPR that he had no information of any threats or damage to the rice crops. But local people insist that these attacks are happening.

Villagers claim that more than 140 rice-growing farms in Khorezm and Karakalpakstan have been visited by officials from the local authority and the prosecutor’s office, and “persuaded” to abandon their rice crops.

Kurbanai Jumaniazova, 40, who has operated a rice farm in the Yangibazar district of Khorezm for years, told IWPR that she had been warned to stop growing rice, and was told that force would be used against her if she refused.

Jumaniyazova’s farm was later visited by police officers, who allegedly used large tractors to crush the germinating rice shoots.

Witnesses spoke of how the farmer threw herself in front of one of the tractors in protest, and was dragged to safety by policemen at the last moment.

Officials from the Khorezm agricultural department argue that such a hard line is necessary in order to keep cotton production up, on soil that is deteriorating from increased salinity and lack of irrigation water.

Rice sprouts must be kept under water throughout the germination period. Agricultural experts argue that this damages the already depleted soil, which is heavily salinated and polluted as both Khorezm and Karakalpakstan lie close to the dying Aral sea.

Human rights activist Yadgar Turlibekov told IWPR that the practice of destroying one crop to protect another was ultimately self-defeating, and argued that such tactics would not be effective in the long term.

“To reduce soil salinity, there should be a large-scale purification of all canals and drains, and new irrigation systems should be built,” said Turlibekov.

However, the effect of the crackdown is already being felt in the former Soviet republic’s markets. Salespeople at a Tashkent market say the rice is selling at more than twice the amount it was this time last year – and they expect prices to rise even further.

A kilogram of one type of rice costs 1,200 soms – one US dollar 20 cents – compared with last year’s price tag of 550 soms.

“I think the cost of rice will continue to increase,” said one trader, Muzaffar. “The Khorezm brand is becoming particularly expensive as it is the best rice for making plov.”

Plov is Uzbekistan’s staple dish, cooked with rice, meat and vegetables.

Muzaffar added, “No matter what the price, people will have to keep buying rice anyway, because Uzbeks cannot live without plov.”