Agricultural machinery fleet to be expanded and modern digital solutions introduced in agrarian sector

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation on providing agriculture with specialized machinery and widespread introduction of digital technologies in the sector.

Today, the level of mechanization in agriculture stands at 81 percent. In particular, in recent years 1,756 cotton harvesting machines were purchased, and the mechanization level of cotton picking reached 52 percent. Last season, 2.1 million tons of cotton were harvested by machines. Thanks to this, manual labor has decreased 1.8 times over the past five years.

The next task is to increase the share of machine cotton harvesting to at least 70 percent. For this purpose, 800 cotton harvesting machines are planned to be purchased in 2026, along with 6,000 seeders, tractors and combines. Overall, 10,000 units of machinery are planned to be acquired during the year, bringing the total fleet to 292,000.

To provide new machinery to farmers on favorable leasing terms, $400 million is planned to be attracted from international financial institutions. Machinery will be provided for up to 10 years at 18 percent in national currency with a two-year grace period, with 8 percent of the credit rate compensated from the budget.

The presentation emphasized that developing agricultural machine-building, expanding domestic production and maintenance are priority tasks.

It was indicated that in 2026-2028, volumes of domestic machinery and equipment production need to increase 5 times, and the localization level needs to increase by 10 percent. In particular, production volume is planned to reach 6,000 units in 2026, and by 2028 the localization level should reach 30-35 percent for self-propelled machinery and 60-65 percent for mounted and trailed equipment.

The current subsidization system for purchasing machinery and equipment applies only to machines with localization levels above 25 percent. A proposal was made to introduce subsidization also for the three most demanded types of imported machinery. Overall, 660 billion soums are allocated this year to reimburse 15 percent of machinery costs.

Measures for recovery and support of the Tashkent Tractor Plant were also discussed during the presentation.

Measures for providing modern banking services and implementing solutions based on digital technologies and artificial intelligence were presented.

If in 2025 ATB Agrobank provided 1.6 trillion soums in credits for agricultural machinery, this year the target is to bring this figure to 3.9 trillion soums. Automation of lending processes will reduce the financing time from 3 days to 3 hours.

Additionally, comprehensive agricultural services will be provided to clients. One agro-service zone will be created in each region, where an agricultural agent will work. In these zones, farmers will be able to receive banking and consulting services, use monitoring services, soil analysis, seedling delivery, agronomist consultations, and obtain information about training courses — all in one place.

Plans for the bank to implement pilot projects using artificial intelligence in livestock, horticulture and smart water management were also discussed, as well as establishing a new venture company with 100 billion soums in charter capital to finance agricultural startups.

Approving the proposals, the head of state instructed responsible officials on further expanding agricultural mechanization, developing domestic production and service, and improving monitoring and financial services through digital platforms.