Dow Jones Commodities Service
October 18
zbekistan's farmers gathered 3.187 million
metric tons of raw cotton by mid-October in the current 2000-01 season,
502,000 tons more than at the same time in the previous season, the
Agriculture Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry said the cotton was ready for harvesting 20 days earlier than normal this year, because of dry, sunny weather which persisted throughout September until Oct. 16.
The weather conditions have since deteriorated, but the ministry still forecasts this season's cotton harvest to be between 3.23 million and 3.25 million tons.
In the current season, Uzbekistan's farmers planted cotton on 1.435 million hectares. Floods earlier in the summer destroyed cotton crops on 45,000-50,000 ha.
In the 1999-2000 season, due to drought in the summer and heavy rains in the autumn, Uzbekistan had the lowest cotton harvest in its history at 3,002 million tons.