Julia Eckert, Georg Elwert (1996):
Land Tenure in Uzbekistan

2.2 The founding of Dehkhans

As mentioned above, Dehkhans are only created on the decision of the local and kolkhoz administration. In order to obtain land for the founding of a Dehkhan, the applicant first has to apply to the Economic Council of the kolkhoz. The Economic Council decides which plot will be handed over to the farmer; the farmer cannot apply for a particular plot of land. The application is then given on to the "Village Council", which is in fact the kolkhoz council and different from the "Mahalla". The Village Council has to approve of the application. The applicant will then address the commune, which sends a surveyor and an "architect" [FN 41] to the plot. They will survey the land and draw a map, which is registered in the cadastre. Following this the applicant has to hand in the application complete with the signatures of the economic council, the Village Council, the surveyor and the architect to the Commission for the Realisation of Economic Reforms. The commission will give a recommendation to the Hokhim to grant the application. When the Hokhim has ratified the application, an account is opened in the bank and the tax office is notified. For two years the farmer will be exempt from tax payments.

Although the independent bank account is seen as the distinguishing feature of a private farmer in so far as it indicates independent financial management, in most cases the accounts of the farmers were actually managed by the kolkhoz. Some farmers expressed that this was according to their wish since they did not feel they had enough experience to manage their finances. [FN 42] Training in financial management was not available.

The application will be granted and a contract signed only if all members of all institutions have signed their approval. The contract determines the services the farmer will be entitled to as well as his duties in money or goods to be paid to the kolkhoz.

Every contract obliges the farmer to use his land efficiently and not to damage it. If the farmer breeches the contract in any way the land can be confiscated. A commission from the Hokhimiat judges breaches. If the land is not used for over a year the farmer will lose his contract. If he uses it for purposes other than farming it will be confiscated. There were no cases when these rules had to be applied since the reform had been implemented only a short time ago.

Most contracts contain the demand for a certain crop to be planted and then delivered to the kolkhoz as lease payment for the land. However if he plants crops different to those agreed on in the contract, he will not be punished. Most Dehkhans are asked to plant grain since Uzbekistan is aiming at increasing the production and decreasing imports of grain. Therefore land is preferably given to farmers who have experience in growing grain. [FN 43] However, cattle farms represent the majority of private farms. Per live stock unit (one cow or ten sheep etc.) 0.3 ha are leased out for fodder production. Also, most vineyards and orchards are privatised in the Dehkhan-system. [FN 44] In contrast to pre-soviet times, fruit growing has been treated as a marginal sector of agriculture and orchards have predominantly been on marginal land.

The contract entails the exact part (in percentage) or amount of produce (in weight) which he has to sell at a fixed price to the kolkhoz for a minimum of ten years. Although officially payments in percentage of harvest were the rule, in practice payments were made in amount of produce. Both measurements, though, were calculated not according to actual yield but according to norms gained from scientific research. [FN 45] Research institutes, during the soviet time, determined possible yields of certain crops and plant species according to soil quality. They were "ideal type" calculations of the form: if the soil contains so and so much sodium then this breed of that crop will yield that much. These norms are still used today to determine the rent of land. [FN 46] Discrepancies between expected yields and actual yields can be high, since the calculations do not take into account weather, soil degradation or other factors. (See below Chapter 4.2 on rents.)

In some cases no rent had to be paid; Dehkhan-land had apparently been given away for free. Only water and the use of machinery had to be paid for. [FN 47] We could not judge whether this was due to good relations with the Hokhimiat or whether it was the decision of single Hokhims not to charge private farmers for their land.