The Khatlon region is well-known in Tajikistan for producing vegetables, especially early-season vegetables in high demand in markets across the country. Adolat Berdieva, a farmer in Madaniyat village, Jamoat “Vakhdati Milli” of Jayhun district, has been growing vegetables for more than a decade. Adolat’s husband travels to Russia every year for seasonal work, so she often works alone.
In 2018, USAID’s Tajikistan Nutrition-Sensitive Vegetable Technologies activity, implemented by the World Vegetable Center, started working with women’s groups in the region. Adolat actively participated in farmer field days and training sessions hosted by USAID. She received healthy cherry tomato seedlings from a vegetable seedling producer, Faizi Rustamova, who also received training through USAID.
Using locally available materials, Adolat built a low-cost 180 square meters greenhouse. She planted an improved variety of cherry tomato in the first half of February 2020 in her new greenhouse. Her first harvest of the tiny, tasty, nutrient-packed tomatoes began in early May and continued through mid-September, two months longer than the typical harvest of local variety tomatoes last. Being able to enjoy such a long growing season was a new experience for Adolat.
Adolat harvested 3,920 kilograms of cherry tomato from her greenhouse, nearly 2.5 times what she would harvest without the greenhouse. She sold three-fourths of her harvest to local markets at an average price of 5 somoni/kg ($0.50), generating an income of 14,500 somoni ($1,450). She saved the rest of her harvest for household consumption.
Using food processing skills she learned through USAID’s training, Adolat and other beneficiaries were able to make jam and pickles, which can be eaten later in the winter when fresh fruits and vegetables are unavailable. Adolat’s success has inspired her neighbors to grow cherry tomatoes in greenhouses using new vegetable production technologies.
USAID’s Tajikistan Nutrition-Sensitive Vegetable Technologies activity runs from 2018 to 2020. It aims to increase the production and consumption of improved vegetables that are high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and zinc.
