Ministry of agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan

In the USSR, a ministry was created for each agro-industrial direction, which managed enterprises. All enterprises were state-owned.  In turn, the ministries were united by the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan, at the very beginning of its formation, by the decision of the Protocol of the Revolutionary Committee of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Tajikistan, dated December 14, 1924, No. 2, along with eight ministries – People's commissariats of Soviet Tajikistan, was named     Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan.  From that moment until now, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan is in the state structure of Tajikistan. Despite the fact that the name of the Ministry of Agriculture has changed several times, for example: the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Agro—Industrial Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform and others, they had the same goals and objectives - ensuring the development of the agricultural sector of the republic. Analyzing the history of the rise of agriculture in Tajikistan, starting from 1924-1929, it can be noted that the country has achieved notable success in a relatively short period, where it is possible to identify the main factors — the establishment of Soviet power and the first agrarian transformations in Tajikistan, land and water reform, the solution of the agrarian issue in the central and south—eastern regions of the republic. The organizational role of the Commissariat of Agriculture was undeniable.  The work on the introduction of the agricultural sector into the system was very difficult, but the solution of this task was a requirement of time. The opponents of the new system tried to resist progress by various means, tried to lead the population off the path they had chosen, and provided every possible opposition to the government council. They intimidated the population with the consequences of organizing collective farms, raided administrative and political centers, and killed rural activists. The Commissariat of Agriculture, which was part of the structure of the new Soviet government, carried out a huge organizational and political explanatory work.

Tajikistan, by the time of the revolution, was a backward agrarian country in which the land issue was very acute and agrarian transformations in 1917-1929 represented a difficult but necessary stage on the way to the socialist path of restructuring agriculture in Tajikistan.

The degree and depth of agrarian transformations in different regions of Tajikistan were not the same, and this, in turn, affected the preparation for a radical restructuring of agriculture on a socialist basis. After the establishment of Soviet power and the creation of an independent state of the USSR, which included Tajikistan, by resolution of the VI Congress of the CPSU (1927)  the policy of collectivization of agriculture of the Soviet state was approved. This way of managing, within the framework of the newly formed states, was long and thorny. Joint partnerships, agricultural artels, the first collective farms, MTS – s were organized.  At the same time, some of the poor dehkans began to unite into various production land–friendly agricultural collectives, artels, cooperatives. At the beginning of 1929, there were 117 collective farms and by the end of the year their number had increased to 250.  In the same year, the Land Commissariat adopted a document legalizing the activities of collective farms – the "Charter of Agricultural Artels", also, by a special order, defined the rise of the cotton industry as part of an integral part of the country's industrialization plan.

To this end, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the Government of the Union put forward the task, including the Ministry of Agriculture, to create collective farms, state enterprises in rural areas, especially large cotton-growing areas in large areas of Tajikistan through irrigation and reclamation and development of virgin lands.  This directive marked the beginning of the development of the Vakhsh Valley, the construction of the largest irrigation facilities here.  In February 1931, the Central Committee of the CP (b) of Tajikistan adopted a special resolution "On Vakhsh construction". In the spring of 1931, an extensive offensive against Vakhsh began, providing for the implementation of a large program of construction, development, construction of canals, reservoirs and roads.  In parallel with Vakhshstroy, collective farms and state farms were created, which then turned into a large base of fine-fiber cotton varieties and made a significant contribution to the achievement of the country's cotton independence. Therefore, the years of the first and second five–year plans (1929-1937) for the Tajik SSR became a period of large-scale land development, the creation of large state mechanized agricultural enterprises of both union and republican subordination. In 1929-1930, 9 cotton, grain and livestock state farms were organized in Tajikistan.  Specialized branch farms, organized at the very beginning of the path of agricultural reconstruction, gradually turned into diversified powerful agricultural enterprises for the production of agricultural and animal husbandry products.

On September 13, 1933, the first water was put into the Vakhsh irrigation canal, which was of great national and economic importance for the country.   To improve the welfare of the population, the Government of the Republic has developed a number of measures to provide assistance and benefits to displaced persons. Upon arrival in the Vakhsh Valley, they were provided with long–term loans for 25 years; they were provided with houses and cows, cotton farms were exempt from tax for 5 years, etc. The first cotton was grown by migrant collective farmers from the gorny Matchinsky district in the Dalverzinsky steppe.

 In the same years, the Dushanbe –Jilikul narrow-gauge railway was built, construction began   Khoja – Bakirgan Canal. Also, during this period, the construction of energy facilities was started.

In 1937, the collectivization of agriculture in Tajikistan was basically completed, and during this period, instead of 200 thousand scattered individual farms, 3,900 collective farms and 20 state farms were created.

Speaking about the history of the development of agricultural production, it is impossible not to recall the disturbing years of the Great Patriotic War. At that time, the entire young population left the countryside for the front. The collective farms were mostly women and children, on whose shoulders the whole burden of work fell.  It was their patriotism and organization that contributed to the fact that important types of strategic raw materials were successfully supplied to the industry – cotton and silk, grain and livestock products.

After the victory, in March 1946, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the 4th five–year plan for the restoration of the development of the national economy of the USSR for 1946-1950.  The national economy of the country was rising day by day, the severe consequences of the war in agriculture were successfully eliminated. Since 1950, in the country, there has been a need to unite small collective farms into larger ones, and, as a result of unification, in Tajikistan, their total number has decreased from 2,685 to 1,314 large collective farms.  At the end of the five–year plan, the collective farms and state farms of the republic fulfilled the state task of harvesting raw cotton ahead of schedule, and 22-23 quintals were harvested from each hectare, the acreage under cotton increased by 31%. The gross yield of raw cotton increased 3.3 times, including fine–fiber varieties – 5 times.  The number of livestock and its productivity have increased. The material and technical base of MTS agriculture has increased and, for example, in 1972, 24 thousand tractors, 1200 combine harvesters and 2900 cotton harvesters worked in collective farms and state farms. Thousands of tons of mineral fertilizers were allocated for agricultural crops.

Cotton growing has become the main profitable agricultural crop for Tajikistan. Large irrigation facilities have been put into operation: the first stages of the Khoja – Bakirgan, Samgar and Dalverzinskaya pumping stations, the Great Hissar Canal, Ferghana and others. In the 80s, about 430 thousand hectares of land were developed in the republic.

Along with cotton growing, animal husbandry has developed markedly in the republic. The improvement of the feed base by increasing forage crops, silage harvesting allowed to increase the number of livestock, increase its productivity and ensure the growth of gross livestock production.   In 1953-1958, the production of meat, as a whole in the republic, increased by 1.7 times, milk – by 2 times, and in the 80s the number of cattle was increased by 2.5 times, sheep – 4 times.  The poultry industry was also developing rapidly.

The branches of grain crops, horticulture, viticulture, vegetable growing, tobacco growing, geraniums and others also developed, which made a significant contribution to the national economy of the country. After the Great Patriotic War, in the rural areas of the republic, highly educated personnel, specialists of various branches of agriculture, together with scientists, contributed to the development of agricultural production, the breeding of new varieties of crops, especially cotton at the level of world requirements, animal husbandry, and other types of products.

Dozens of sons of the Motherland, for their conscientious work, were awarded high awards, including the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. Outstanding farmers of Tajikistan S.Urunkhodzhaev, A.Samadov, K.Ismoilov were awarded this title twice.

The years of Tajikistan's independence were a difficult and ambiguous period for Tajik farmers. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Independent Republics began to be created.