Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - Prices for carrots in Uzbekistan in November decreased by 4-5 times compared to June 2021 and, according to forecasts of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, will hold at this level until the new harvest in spring 2022. 

Among the measures taken by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the relevant departments to stabilize the cost of carrots, the following can be distinguished: an increase in acreage for this crop, planting of high-yielding varieties, as well as intensive agricultural work, including the use of irrigation technologies and timely treatment against diseases and pests.

All this made it possible in 2021 to increase the yield of carrots on average from 20-25 tons to 30-40 tons per hectare. Thus, the cost of carrots in farms has decreased to 700-800 soums (6.5-7.5 cents) per 1 kg of carrots. The average retail price for 1 kg of carrots, which as of June 20 was 6,000-10,000 soums, today (October-November 2021) has dropped to 2,000 soums, and the average purchase price from the fields fluctuates at the level of 1,000-1500 soums for 1 kg.

Carrots 2021: domestic market, reserve, processing and export

Carrots have repeatedly been in the spotlight this year due to price fluctuations, the main reason for which was the late ripening of "early ripe carrots" by almost a month in the spring of 2021.

Already in the summer, the situation with carrot prices has almost completely stabilized. And at the end of summer and the first months of autumn, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan also launched socially oriented fairs “from field to consumer” for the population, where carrots and other basic agricultural crops were sold at low prices thanks to direct deliveries of products from the fields directly to bazaars.

In 2021, in all categories of farms, carrots were planted on a total area of 124.4 thousand hectares (18.2 thousand hectares more than last year). Of the more than 2 million tons of carrots grown in 2021 (harvesting continues), the bulk is directed to meeting the needs of the domestic market.

At the same time, 140 thousand tons of carrots harvested from the "re-sowing" will be reserved to provide the population in the winter-spring season, and part of the "late-ripening" carrots will be processed on the basis of several dozen specialized enterprises with a total capacity of 250-300 thousand tons (in 2020 110 thousand tons of carrots were sent for processing: drying, shock freezing).

It is worth noting that the annual demand for carrots by the population of the country is 700-800 thousand tons (according to the medical norm, the need per year per person is approximately 20 kg). The share of carrot products in the consumer basket is 0.4%.

The volume of exports of carrots in 2021 significantly increased against the background of an increase in demand and an increase in purchase prices for this crop in foreign countries. As of November 1, 2021, a total of 50.5 thousand tons were exported, or 17% (43.4 tons) more compared to the same period last year. About 65% of the exported carrots were "early ripe carrots", that is, in April-June.

In 2021, carrots were exported in the amount of US$7.6 million to nine countries, mainly: 30.5 thousand tons to the Republic of Kazakhstan (US$4 million), 16.5 thousand tons to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (US$2. 8 million), 3 thousand tons to the Russian Federation (US$704,000), as well as to Tajikistan, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, the Republic of Korea and the United Arab Emirates.