Kyrgyzstan : producer aims to export asparagus

Self-taught farmer Chubak Orozaliev believes he was one of the first to grow asparagus in Kyrgyzstan. He says there is already demand for spears from restaurateurs in the Central Asian country, as well as growing interest from consumers as more people aim to eat healthily. The Aspa Farm director says the firm is trialling 3 different methods. It is growing asparagus on 20 ha in the Chui region, 70 km from the capital city of Bishkek, under a traditional approach (spring harvest) with seedlings from Atlas F1 seeds. It has also allocated about 2.2 ha in a greenhouse complex on the outskirts of Bishkek for the mother stem method (summer harvest, mainly using UC 157 F1) and is testing winter forcing (autumn-winter harvest) over 0.2 ha.

“I became acquainted with asparagus in the US and since about 2013, my partners and I have experimented in different places in Kyrgyzstan on small plots,” Orozaliev told Asparagus World. Production volumes are currently small, with no more than 10 tons estimated for 2024, but the firm, legally formed a year ago, hopes to find a partner to help it scale up for export. For now, it markets its spears via an intermediary in Bishkek and Almaty, Kyrgyzstan’s biggest city, he said.