Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Agriculture on 13 November responded to social media posts showing cotton still standing in some fields and to doubts over the announced five-million-tonne harvest. According to the ministry, the Agrotarozi electronic platform recorded 5,047,095 tonnes of cotton prepared since the start of the season. That figure equals 112.2% of the 4.5 million tonne contractual volume, but officials stress that reaching the milestone does not mean harvesting has ended in every district.
Key Takeaways: As of 13 November, the Agrotarozi platform recorded 5,047,095 tonnes of cotton, or 112.2% of the 4.5 million tonne contractual target. The ministry said cotton remaining in certain fields does not by itself contradict earlier forecasts or the national result. Harvesting reportedly continues in most regions even after the five-million-tonne mark was reached.
The dispute reflects a familiar challenge in cotton-season reporting: operational totals for a specific date, regional acceptance data and the actual situation across thousands of fields do not always move in parallel. Social media videos showing unharvested cotton prompted questions among users about whether the announced national figure reflected the full picture. In response, the ministry argued that the completion of harvesting on every plot is a different indicator from the cumulative volume collected by a given date. That distinction, it said, is central to interpreting the five-million-tonne announcement correctly.
In its statement, the ministry said: “Reaching the established milestone across the country does not mean that harvesting has been completed in every field. The initial forecast for this year of 4.6 million tonnes is also not the maximum ceiling of the harvest. There is no logical contradiction if more cotton is grown or accepted. Therefore, the presence of cotton in a field cannot by itself serve as grounds for concluding that there is no previously accepted harvest.” The ministry added that harvesting has continued in most regions after the five-million-tonne threshold was passed.
The clarification is significant because cotton remains a strategically important crop for Uzbekistan’s agriculture, rural employment and processing sector. Digital platforms such as Agrotarozi are intended to improve transparency in acceptance, accounting and reporting, but they operate alongside field inspections and regional administrative data. Analysts and growers are likely to focus on whether the final regional breakdowns, procurement records and payment information align with the national total. A clear reconciliation of those data sets would help address public skepticism and strengthen confidence in the reporting system.
The ministry’s next updates and reports from regional agricultural authorities will determine how the final harvest balance is presented. Officials are expected to provide more detail on districts where picking is still under way, as well as on procurement and contractual deliveries. Those disclosures will be closely watched as a test of how effectively the authorities can explain the difference between a national milestone and field-level completion, and whether the five-million-tonne result is confirmed by subsequent data.
Source: kun.uz