Zulaikho Tilloeva
Head of Dekhkan Farm "Zulaikho", Yovon district
Zulaikho grew up in Danghara, Khatlon, southern Tajikistan. She devoted her youth to Young Communist League activities. "I became experienced in that," she says. She graduated as an economist and was engaged in business for many years.
Later she heard that authorities were allocating land for establishment of farms in Yovon, a district where her relatives lived. Her relatives encouraged her to take a plot of land. She applied and was able to get 50 hectares by applying to the regional executive agency and agricultural administration.
Zulaikho started a farm with 30 shareholders, cultivating cotton on 35 hectares. The rest of the land produces melons and gourds, cereal crops and fruit. Last year each hectare yielded 3.5 metric tons of cotton.
"To tell the truth, when I came here I didn't know where to start. I devoted my first two years to learning the work here. I invited well - known agronomists and took their advice, and then prepared the land for crops. Thank God, seven or eight years have passed since that time and now I know the farming quite well; I know how to benefit from the land." Zulaikho laughs.
When Zulaikho first arrived, the land was covered in weeds and was in poor condition. With hard work and the help of agricultural machinery, productivity has improved after repeated tilling and fertilizing. She now focuses on improving lives of her shareholders both socially and economically.
The prosperity of village jamoat "Sitorai Surkh" (Red Star), where she and her shareholders live, has grown. In the future, Zulaikho intends to open a cannery for processing the produce of her orchards.