On January 27, 2018, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution on the cultivation of chili pepper in Uzbekistan based on foreign experience.
Then it was planned to bring seeds from Indonesia and allocate 17,117 hectares of land plots for planting pepper. It was expected that more than 200,000 tons of yield would be harvested from this area.
According to the State Statistics Committee, in compliance with the document, new company - “Qalampir” (Pepper), was established under the JSC Uzbekozikovkatkholding. It dealt with the issues of providing farmers, engaged in the cultivation of pepper, with funds and financial-technical resources on a contractual basis. It engaged in the processing of hot pepper and its export.
Now, after 15 months, it became known that the export of chili peppers has increased dramatically. In January-March 2019, Uzbekistan exported peppers for $25 million, which is 10 times more compared to the same period last year.
The State Statistics Committee specified that more than 90% of the total exported pepper accounted for chili pepper.
Export of chili peppers in monetary terms exceeded export of passenger cars ($17.2 million), processed fruits and vegetables ($12.8 million), leather raw materials ($10.4 million) and was preceded by electricity exports ($39.5 million).