Molecular geneticist Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov, a 2014 TWAS Fellow and the Uzbek Minister of agriculture resources since 2023, is among the scientists and policymakers who are leading the modernization of Uzbekistan’s cotton sector, turning it into a global success story.
As the world’s population rises and climate patterns become unpredictable, even genetically superior seeds are not sufficient to secure strong crop yields. Productivity and resilience depend on how effectively a crop is managed throughout its growth cycle.
Understanding how to activate the genetic potential of a seed through epigenetics—a science that studies how genes can be switched on or off without changing the DNA sequence—is becoming more relevant. This is precisely the challenge that has driven much of Abdurakhmonov’s research, providing the Uzbekistan government with scientifically sound guidance for agricultural decision-making.
“Genetics provides the plant’s potential, the hardware; whereas epigenetics, the software, helps explain how the environment switches that potential on or off,” said Abdurakhmonov. “Heat, drought, salinity, planting time, light, nutrition, and other field conditions can influence how a plant grows without changing its DNA sequence,” said Abdurakhmonov.
And he added: “Through epigenetically informed agronomy, scientists explore new ways of helping crops thrive in the field. Better seeds are still crucial, but researchers are learning how to create the right conditions for plants to make the most of the genetic advantages they already possess.”
Epigenetically informed agronomy is indeed what allowed the Uzbekistan government to improve not only agricultural practices and yields, but also farmers’ conditions. Between 2021 and 2025, due to reforms that encouraged the adoption of improved crop varieties and sustainable agricultural practices, average cotton yields in Uzbekistan increased by 40.4%. According to a scientific study co-authored by Abdurakhmonov, despite a 15.1% reduction in cultivated areas, total cotton production in Uzbekistan increased by 19.3%.
“Uzbekistan has shifted from an administratively driven cotton system to a more productive, market-oriented, and human-centered model,” said Abdurakhmonov, who also served as Uzbekistan's Minister of Innovative Development and Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovations from 2017 to 2023.
“The reforms have reduced direct state control, strengthened farmer and cluster responsibility, expanded modern seed and biotechnology, introduced water-saving agronomy, and connected production with domestic processing and higher-value textile manufacturing,” he added
And the 2026 season indicates that this transformation is continuing. “According to officially announced interim results on 22 October, farmers had already harvested 4.85 million tonnes of seed cotton, which is 108% of the national target, and the harvest is still underway,” Abdurakhmonov added.
Cotton in Uzbekistan grows under peculiar conditions. As the scientist explained, cotton can lose valuable growing time because of late planting, water stress, excessive leaf and stem growth, or cooler autumn weather. Instead of looking only for a new variety, he and his team explored how management of crop maturity through an epigenetic approach could help the plant complete each stage of development on time.
Now, by regulating the ageing process, scientists help cotton plants flower earlier and produce mature, open bolls more quickly. These low-cost, science-based interventions improved crop uniformity and helped raise yield without requiring the farmer to replace the variety in every case.
“Uzbekistan’s experience can offer a practical model for other cotton-growing countries, especially in water-stressed regions and the global South,” Abdurakhmonov said. “However, the new direction is not simply to grow more cotton. It is to create more value from every hectare, while protecting farmers, communities, and nature. The central lesson is that agricultural reform succeeds when science reaches the field, the farmer sees an economic return, and the full value chain moves in the same direction.”
Abdurakhmonov’s relationship with TWAS dates back before his election to the Academy.
In 2010, he received the 2010 TWAS Prize for his fundamental contribution to understanding genetic diversity and its exploitation in the cotton genome, and in 2013 he was awarded the ICAC Cotton Researcher of the Year award.
In 2022, he was honored as the Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship, a distinction awarded through the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative-related programme that recognizes contributions to international cooperation and cultural exchange.
And the international recognition continued in 2023, when he received the UNESCO–Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences, for his pioneering work on molecular markers for cotton improvement.
In June this year, he was named the 2026 Top Agri-food-Pioneer by the World Food Prize Foundation, due to his pioneering work on a molecular technology that has produced improved cotton varieties now cultivated on over 100,000 hectares in Uzbekistan.
In August, the University of California at Berkeley AMENA Center for Entrepreneurship and Development announced the appointment of Abdurakhmonov to its advisory council, and early in October he was named the 2026 winner of the GCHERA World Agriculture Prize for the Emerging and Developing Economies Category.
Cristina Serra