Types of agriculture and light industry

Each part of the country has its own type of agriculture: both nature and the demands of the population and industry vary from place to place. Before independence Uzbekistan specialized mainly in cotton growing, and the other branches were auxiliary branches subordinated to it; now attention also goes to crops such as grain, potatoes, fruit and vegetables. Unlike in most countries, natural zones in Uzbekistan change not from north to south but from west to east, that is, from the plain to the mountains. Accordingly specialization also differs by desert, adyr, mountain and pasture. Cotton is grown only on irrigated land. The largest irrigated lands are the Fergana Valley, Mirzachul, Kashkadarya, the Zarafshan Valley and the Khorezm oasis; in valleys and oases cotton, grain, sericulture, viticulture, horticulture and melon growing are developed. In the deserts sheep and camel breeding: animals graze the desert in winter and spring, mountain pastures in summer, and return to the desert in autumn. On adyrs there are rain-fed wheat and orchards, and in the mountains pasture livestock. Around big cities suburban agriculture has formed: vegetables, fruit, milk, meat, poultry and fish are produced, because city residents need fresh produce.