Kyrgyz farmers have the right to be proud of their fruits, vegetables and meat, because they are loved not only in the country, but are also known far beyond its borders. Every year, farmers in the Ton and Jety-Oguz regions grow a rich harvest of apricots and apples, in the Kochkor region — potatoes, and in the Dzhumgal region — meat. Part of the harvest is sold immediately, while the other part, farmers try to save until it is sold in the winter-spring period.
“Unfortunately, we do not have enough space to store fruits, vegetables and feed, and therefore we are losing a significant share of the crop. Modern storage facilities could handle both this problem and the price increase from February each year,” says Aitbek Aldakulov, head of the Akdan cooperative in the Kochkor region. Indeed, vegetables and fruits are imported from abroad when the goods in the warehouses run out.
The Union of Cooperatives of Kyrgyzstan, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), aims to help 8 cooperatives in Ton, Jety-Oguz, Kochkor and Jumgal districts manage and share the storage infrastructure that will be provided to them under the Islamic Development Bank’s Irrigated Agriculture Development Project in Issyk-Kul and Naryn regions.
