Muhammadrabi Muzaffarov, a 46-year-old farmer, lives in a village at the border with Afghanistan. He is married and has three daughters, three sons and two grandchildren. Muhammadrabi’s household also includes his parents. Like many other farmers in the area, he grew cotton for a living. In recent years, however, Muhammadrabi has seen the revenue from his 12 hectares of land in Khojadurbod in the Khatlon Province decline due to the drop in the price of cotton. While exploring new farming opportunities, he learned that the USAID Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity in Tajikistan was promoting persimmon drying technologies to farms in his area.
Persimmons are a popular fruit in Tajikistan. Almost every Tajik family has a persimmon tree in their backyard. A good source of nutrients such as thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), folate, magnesium, and phosphorus, while also being a delicious fruit, persimmons are enjoyed fresh or in a variety of recipes. However, it is a perishable fruit with a short season, requiring innovative technology to extend its shelf-life without losing its vital nutrients.
Though Muhammadrabi has 20 persimmon trees in his backyard, witheach tree yielding up to 150 kg per season,he never considered persimmon’s potential as a value-added product, due to its short shelf-life and low value as fresh fruit. He even left fruit remaining on trees to feed birds because he did not see the value in them.
As Muhammadrabi states,“Five years ago, the price for one kilogram of fresh persimmon was less than 0.20 Somoni ($0.017). There was no value in selling this crop; wholesale buyers and regular clients didn't know what to do with them. Some households cut down persimmon trees”.
However, Muhammadrabi changed his mind after participating in a USAID-organized workshop on innovative value-added techniques for persimmons. Soon after the workshop he tested the methods by drying 40 kg persimmon from the trees in his backyard. The pilot season was so successful that he made plans for further production.
In addition to Muhammadrabi, 618 other persimmon growers who received the training are now producing 2,000 kg of dried persimmons collectively.
Then in February 2020, the USAID Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity presented an opportunity for Muhammadrabi and other persimmons growers to meet with aggregators, buyers, and exporters from the Sughd region, in the northern part of Tajikistan. From discussions with potential buyers, Mummadrabi immediately saw a golden opportunity in the innovative approach of adding value to persimmons through drying and prolonging its shelf life. Following this business event, Muhamadrabi sold 600 kg of dried persimmon to buyers from Sughd by drying persimmons from his farm and from other participants of the USAID Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity workshop.
“In the beginning people laughed at me. They never believed that dried persimmons could be valuable. But when they learned of my success people began to change perceptions on persimmons and now call the fruit, the Khatlon Gold Mine”, says Muhammadrabi.
In December 2020, Muhammadrabi’s farm received a net revenue of 60,000 somoni ($5,320.00) by selling two tons of dried persimmons at 35 somoni/kg ($ 3.20) to exporters from the north of the country who plan to sell the product to Russia. With this lucrative production, Muhammadrabi quickly became a role model among persimmon growers.
In addition, during the last persimmon season, Muhammadrabi established 12 new part-time jobs, for eight women and four youths, in addition to his 10 family members, several of which had lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
Muhammadrabi is busy, now planning for the next season. Recently, he used half of his profit to purchase a transformer for a cold storage unit to store persimmons and the fruits and vegetables grown on his farm and in his greenhouses, giving them a longer shelf life. This will be the first cold storage unit in his village. He also intends to plant 50 more persimmon trees to strengthen his persimmon production.
This new business idea in Khatlon has encouraged people to see opportunities in adding value to crops, which previously were ignored. Role models like Muhammadrabi help boost a change in the mindset of Khatlon’s emerging entrepreneurs.
The USAID Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity facilitates the development of innovative and value-added products in the Khatlon region in order to improve the competitiveness of the region’s agribusiness sector and increase regional trade.
USAID