Assessing the Social Impact of Cotton Harvest Mechanization in Uzbekistan

The Government of Uzbekistan (GoU) has
recently adopted a policy to mechanize the cotton harvest as
part of its drive to modernize the agricultural sector.
Under Uzbekistan’s state-order system it is compulsory for
many farmers to grow cotton. They are contractually
obligated to produce stipulated quantities that are annually
set by the government, and must sell these to the GoU at a
price fixed by the government. Almost all cotton in
Uzbekistan is harvested by hand, even though mechanization
existed during the Soviet period. An estimated 2.2–3 millio