On May 17, 2025, three police officers in the Kamashi district of Uzbekistan’s Kashkadarya region severely beat a farmer, Sirojiddin Kurbanov, after he refused to comply with their demands. The officers arrived at Kurbanov’s field and ordered him to go to the district police station. When he refused, saying he needed to irrigate his wheat, they tied him up, beat and kicked him, and transported him to the prosecutor’s office.
In an interview with Radio Ozodlik (the Uzbek service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), which originally published the story, Kurbanov said that he was taken by force to the police station, where he was ordered to deliver a silkworm cocoon quota—despite not having a contract and no obligation to do so.
“The police said the Kamashi police chief wanted to see me,” Kurbanov said. “I explained I was working and had to water my crops. But officers Azamat, Ormon, and Orif tied my hands, pushed me down, beat me, and kicked me. Azamat choked me until I lost consciousness. They continued to torture me even after I passed out. Then they handcuffed me and took me to the station.” He was detained until 11 p.m. before being released.
Every June marks the silkworm cocoon harvesting season in Uzbekistan. Farmers across the country, though not legally obligated under their land leases, are pressured—often with threats and violence—into cultivating cocoons. Many say cocoon production is unprofitable and detracts from their primary crops like wheat and cotton.
Uzbekistan is per capita the world’s largest producer of silkworm cocoons, and by volume is the world world’s third largest producer after China and India. Like cotton and wheat, silkworm cocoons are subject to state procurement, requiring farmers across all regions to produce them.
In 2017, Uzbekistan began privatizing the silk sector by forming “clusters”—private companies that buy cocoons from farmers for processing. Despite this, farmers report being forced into contracts through coercion. Coercion is overseen by a troika of the head of a district (hokim), prosecutor, and the head of the Internal Affairs Department who force farmers to sign contracts to produce cocoons even through use of physical force.
The government sets annual cocoon production quotas for each district, which are then assigned to farmers who specialize in grain and cotton. While farmers frequently voice their frustrations on social media, these complaints are often ignored. Officials continue to threaten land seizures against those who resist signing silk cocoon production contracts.
According to Sirojiddin Kurbanov, it was only after he filed a complaint with the regional prosecutor’s office on May 20 and submitted photos of him being beaten, that he was he given a decision to undergo an expert examination four days later. By this time, his injuries had healed, and the results of the expert examination have not yet been released.
However, the farmer has no hope that his application will be considered fairly. One of the prevention inspectors who beat him allegedly told him, “Why don’t you file a thousand complaints? We do this kind of thing every day, nothing will happen to us.”
Meanwhile farmers are scrambling to buy cocoons from other producers to fulfill the mandatory quota imposed on them to escape reprisals and often have to pay far higher prices for the cocoons than they will be paid by silk companies they deliver them to. Silk clusters are currently paying farmers and homesteaders 35-40,000 UZS ($2.75 – $3) per kilogram of cocoons while the price on the “black market” has risen to 70-75,000 UZS ($5.50 – $6) per kilogram.
For many farmers, the imposed quotas for silkworm cocoons are an unnecessary burden and expense, so farmers pay bribes to officials to “fulfill” the silkworm cocoon quota. According to local media reports, the deputy hokim of the Dehkanabad district was arrested while receiving a bribe from a farmer from whom he had demanded 21 million UZS ($1,660) to “meet” a quota for the production of 300 kg of cocoons.
