Iowan helps out in Tajikistan

When Griswold, Iowa, farmer Michael Perdue arrived at the dairy farm of Siroj Kodirov, he found poorly nourished cows, mismanaged food sources and little incentive among workers to improve the situation.

“Really, it boils down to a lack of modern management skills,” said Perdue.

Perdue is not comfortable criticizing fellow farmers, but that's the reason he was in Tajikistan.

Under a hot, dry sun — Tajikistan is like Phoenix in the summertime, Perdue said — he spent days observing, examining and taking part in the farming routines at two different dairy operations.

Perdue went there as a volunteer for a farmer-to-farmer program administered by CNFA, an international agriculture development organization. The program is funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which receives its money for farmer-to-farmer operations through the federal farm bill.

Perdue grew up on a dairy farm — the same farm where he's raised his own children. But three years ago he was ready for a change. He sold his cows and built a home in the Republic of Georgia, which was part of the Soviet Union for much of the 20th century. Perdue and his family still farm some crops in Griswold, but they also spend time in Georgia, where they've turned their country home into a hostel.

Perdue has long been enamored of the former Soviet republics, many of which are still struggling to find their feet almost 19 years after the fall of the U.S.S.R. It was that interest, and a desire to contribute, that led Perdue to apply for the farmer-to-farmer program.

Tajikistan, situated between China and Afghanistan, was known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic until the Soviet Union fell in 1991. After that, its people spent years embroiled in civil war.

While in Tajikistan, he tried to offer his best advice to the dairy farmers, who were struggling to get their cows to produce enough milk. The cows suffered from poor nutrition, Perdue said.

“Those cows did not give more than a goat. It was pretty pathetic,” he said. “But if you saw what they fed them and how they managed them, it was no wonder.”

At one farm, the cows were fed corn silage, which should be a good, protein-rich food, he said. But that corn silage was hardly worthy of the name. It contained more weeds than corn.

“You were lucky to find little nubbins of corn in the corn at all,” said Perdue. “That's simply a lack of resources. They need to use herbicides.”

The majority of land in Tajikistan consists of mountains and desert — not particularly conducive to farming. Yet agriculture remains an important part of the economy, said Iowa State University professor Eric Abbott, who has worked with the World Bank and USAID to advance agricultural reform in Tajikistan.

The country has lush areas in valleys. That highly prized land is heavily relied upon to produce cotton — a cash crop for the country, but a poor moneymaker for farmers, Abbott said.

Small farms run by individuals are new, after years of Soviet-run farm operations. Those farms were huge — 10,000 acres to 20,000 acres — and they operated in a top-down fashion, where farmers were employees. The farmers were told what to farm and what to sell, and they didn't have a stake in the operations, Abbott said.

Since the land was parceled out to individuals, many farmers have tried to branch out, to grow other crops that would be more profitable, but they have encountered harsh opposition, he said.

“Your first inclination is to say ‘why are you doing that?'” Abbott said. But he soon realized that the political forces behind cotton farming were strong. If farmers didn't produce a certain amount of cotton, their water might be withheld, he said.

The dairy farmers had some positive opportunities to get better nutrition to the cows. Alfalfa grows well in the region, and a liquid byproduct of vodka production is a good source of nutrition, Perdue said. But the farmers need help figuring out how to manage those resources.

“They're not in a bubble,” Perdue said. “They know the United States and other places have high-producing cows, crops, whatever. They're just trying to find out how to do that.”

Contact the writer:

444-1310, elizabeth.ahlin@owh.com

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