At a videoconference held in Bukhara on August 11, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed plans to guarantee price stability and ensure a secure supply of food and energy resources to the population and sectors of the economy. It was noted that due to extreme winter and unusually hot summer, measures must be taken to prepare for the upcoming winter and to ensure an adequate supply of food and stability of the energy system.
In the last few years, 200 thousand hectares of agricultural land have been given to the population to increase food production, resulting in 700 thousand people being provided with permanent work and 1.3 million with seasonal work. The revenue of 605 thousand farmers rose. In addition, there are now more districts that are self-sufficient in potatoes, onions, and carrots.
The Head of state proposed fresh initiatives in this direction. It was decided that the lease term of 73,000 hectares of land allocated for 10 years will be extended to 30 years. 100 thousand hectares of unused pastures will be leased to the population with livestock for 10 years. The area of one plot will be at least 10 hectares. When issuing land to the needy population included in the “Register of Social Protection”, it will be exempted from paying all land payments.
It was also decided to replace the plots that did not arouse interest among the population with lands close to water sources and settlements, to put up new sown lands for transparent auctions. This would make it possible to procure 1 million tons of products and provide an additional 800,000 people with income.
The program for growing grapes, pumpkins, melons, watermelon, and vegetable crops along the edges of the fields, harvesting 220 thousand tons of additional products, and keeping 600 thousand heads of poultry and 300 thousand bee hives was discussed. Containment of price growth should be carried out by expanding the cultivation of secondary crops and increasing production volumes.
The country’s greenhouses area has tripled in recent years and the volume of products grown in them – from 90,000 to 300,000 tons. They employ 150,000 people in high paid-jobs. It was noted that an uninterrupted fuel supply to greenhouses in the autumn-winter season and, if necessary, the allocation of loans for its purchase would be necessary.
The tasks of guaranteed energy supply for the population and sectors of the economy were also discussed at the meeting. Much work is being carried out in Uzbekistan to develop green energy and introduce energy-saving technologies into the economy. Over the past period, 430 MW of renewable energy sources have been implemented. Due to this, 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity are generated per year, equal to 60 percent of the annual consumption of social facilities.
Solar panels with a capacity of 250 MW have been installed in social and business facilities and in the homes of the population. It was highlighted that 3.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas must be saved by the end of the year. The task was set to extract 30 billion cubic meters of gas in the second half of the year, increase reserves in underground gas storage facilities to at least 3.5 billion cubic meters, and produce 41 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
An instruction was given to completely repair electrical networks and transformers, to strengthen discipline in energy consumption. UzA