Uzbekistan is among 40 countries where sweet cherry is grown. According to the data of FAOSTAT, Uzbekistan is in top 10 of largest sweet cherry producers in the world and out of 100 thousand tons of cherries produced in Uzbekistan 30% is exported to CIS and other foreign countries per year.

Recently, UNDP with assistance of Ministry for Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan conducted practical seminars on advanced approaches for sweet cherry cultivation in Namangan, Ferghana and Andijan regions, the UNDP Uzbekistan said.

These seminars aimed at improving capacities of agricultural enterprises in sweet cherries cultivation and their export potential as well as increasing the knowledge on access to foreign markets and applying best practices in managing cherry orchards.

Around 70 representatives of farms, agrofirms and gardeners, interested in cherry production received tips and gained practical consultations from experienced trainer Shuhrat Abrorov. Among the discussed challenges, participants examined matters of cherry flowers drop, cracked or doubled fruits and low crop yields in high density branches. For some of participants a practice of pruning in August-September in order to improve product yield was a novelty.

Participants have also discussed in detail issues with selecting high-yielding cherry varieties, agro-technical growing techniques, training methods, pest control, requirements for harvesting and storage conditions.

"Despite the fact that I have many years of experience in horticulture, the information provided during the practical seminars was very useful for me. In particular, it was very interesting and important for me to learn detailed explanation of irrigation requirements and the difference between pruning to control growth and pruning to increase yield. In recent years, because of the problem with sweet cherry flowers and fruits dropping too early, my yield in garden has declined no matter how hard I tried and at the seminar I found possible reasons and solutions to this particular problem," said one of the participants, Safiyakhon Abdukholikova.

In the theoretical part of the seminar, organizers provided a summary on general cultivation requirements for sweet cherries and available varieties. Importance of rootstocks selection and specific requirements for different training approaches, planting, fertilizing and watering, pest control, as well as best practices in harvesting and storing crops were discussed.

In the practical part of the seminar, the participants were able upgrade skills in forming a garden and pruning sweet cherries, and improve knowledge on requirements and techniques for irrigation and applying fertilizers.