Farmers in Bagdad district of Fergana region told journalist Sharifa Madrahimova that the district hokim is forcing them to deliver more grain to the state than is specified in their contracts.
To force the farmers to hand over the grain, the hokim of Baghdad district ordered the electricity and water supply to be cut off, preventing farmers from planting rice on land cleared after the grain harvest.
According to Fergana-based lawyer Askarali Fayzullaev, who is familiar with the situation, rice is traditionally grown as a second crop on lands in some areas of the Bagdad district. Farmers use this opportunity after the grain, usually wheat, is harvested, which usually happens by early July each year.
“Forcing farmers to deliver additional wheat contradicts the president’s policy. Farmers are independent entrepreneurs. They want to plant rice as a second crop, which contributes to food security. But for some reason, the hokim is against it. Farmers have already harvested all the wheat they had—where are they supposed to get extra wheat? This only fuels corruption because naturally, when a farmer cannot obtain the wheat, some will pay officials to avoid being punished for failing to deliver it,” said the lawyer in a video statement.
“None of the farmers from Bagdad district wanted to speak on camera,” wrote Sharifa Madrahimova on her Facebook page. One farmer, speaking anonymously, told her that he had previously given an interview to a local journalist in which he described the pressure from the hokim and the incompetence of officials in charge of agriculture. He said it was becoming increasingly difficult to grow cotton, and that afterwards, “I’ve had no peace.”
“I hear reproaches at every hokimiyat meeting, despite working from dawn to dusk in the field. Starting today, the hokim ordered the electricity to be cut off and the water supply to my land to be stopped,” said the farmer, who asked not to be named.
This farmer has managed his farm for more than 25 years and said he has invested all his resources and effort into improving the land’s productivity. He fears losing it because, apart from farming, he has no other job.
Sharifa Madrahimova reported that similar demands to deliver excess wheat were being made in Rishtan, Uchkuprik, and Buvayda districts of the Fergana region.
