Uzbekistan launches guayule cultivation pilot project

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — A pilot project to develop agronomic methods for cultivating guayule under Uzbekistan’s conditions has been launched in Tashkent during the international industrial exhibition “INNOPROM. Central Asia.”

The initiative was introduced by the company Econo-Tech, which previously built and commissioned a guar gum production plant in the Nizhnevartovsk district, according to the press service of the Yugra Development Fund.

Guar gum is a natural thickening agent widely used in the oil, food, and cosmetics industries.

As part of the project, a symbolic experimental sowing of guayule, also known as four-winged amaranth-like plant Cynaposis tetragonoloba, was carried out on a 1.5-hectare plot. The site is being used for selective research aimed at achieving the required viscosity characteristics of the raw material.

The event was attended by representatives of regional and sectoral institutions, including First Deputy Governor of Yugra Alexei Zabozlaev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Uzbekistan Kakhramon Yuldashev, Director of the Department of Industry Viktor Gamuzev, as well as scientific representatives, including Institute Director Zafar Ziyaev and academician Shadmon Namazov from the National Center for Knowledge and Innovation in Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan.

The project is being implemented with the support of the government of Yugra, the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, and leading scientific institutions, including the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Research Institute of Plant Genetic Resources.

For the initiating company, the project is expected to ensure stable raw material supplies with the required technological properties.

The initiative is expected to contribute to the development of the agricultural sector in both countries and expand cooperation in agricultural technologies and innovation.