How Uzbekistan's cotton industry has changed and what is being said about it in the world?
The international conference dedicated to World Cotton Day was held in Tashkent this year. Delegates from international organizations and over 30 countries discussed innovations in the sector, particularly the sharp increase in yields in Uzbekistan. Minister Ibrohim Abdurahmonov explained this through the "5D" principle and 8 rules. International organizations praised the result, but noted that the most important factor is the increase in created value.
How has Uzbekistan's cotton industry changed and what is being said about it around the world?
On October 7, an international conference dedicated to World Cotton Day was held in Tashkent. The event was attended by representatives of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Trade Organization, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), as well as industry experts from more than 30 countries.
World Cotton Day was established in 2019 at the initiative of four African cotton-producing countries — Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Chad — and is celebrated annually on October 7 with the support of the World Trade Organization and the UN. The main event was held in Benin in 2024 and in Italy in 2025. This year, the conference was organized in Central Asia for the first time: during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's visit to the US in November 2025, Minister Abdurakhmonov and Eric Trachtenberg, Executive Director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), agreed to hold the 2026 event in Uzbekistan.
This date holds special significance for Uzbekistan. According to an official video presented at the conference, the International Labour Organization noted in 2021 that systemic forced labor in Uzbekistan's cotton harvest had been eliminated, and on March 10, 2022, the Cotton Campaign coalition officially lifted the boycott against Uzbek cotton. Following this, Uzbekistan began selling its cotton freely on the international market once again.
The Minister of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, Doctor of Biological Sciences Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov, devoted the main part of his speech to the principles he called "5D" — the initial letters of the English words diversify, doable, design, discipline, and durable. Namely, diversifying varieties and technologies, simplifying rules to a level that farmers can execute, planning the field based on a precise scheme, discipline, and sustainability.
According to the minister, at a time when the climate is changing rapidly, one cannot be limited to a single variety and a single method; for this reason, Uzbekistan has imported, tested, and adapted varieties from various breeding centers around the world. "We are open to any agrotechnology," Abdurakhmonov said.
According to him, many technologies in cotton growing remain unused in practice because they are complex for farmers, which is why the second principle is doable simplicity. For example, the minister explained the rule regarding the height of the cotton plant as follows: