Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Sept. 2
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The cotton picking campaign in Ahal, Balkan, Lebap and Mary regions of Turkmenistan will start on September 11, Trend reports referring to the local Altyn Asyr TV channel.
Farmers of the country’s northern Dashoguz Region will begin harvesting on September 18.
The matter was discussed at a government meeting. "Much has been done in the country to increase cotton production, and this year the cotton growers have grown a good harvest of ‘white gold’ [i.e. cotton],” the words of the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov were quoted in the report.
According to him, all the conditions have been created in the country for highly productive labor of farmers. “They are provided with high-quality seeds, various fertilizers, chemical plant protection products, modern agricultural equipment and water in the required volumes,” the head of state said.
Some 550,000 hectares have been allocated for cotton in Turkmenistan this year, and it is planned to collect 1,050,000 tons of raw cotton. For the first time in the country, private producers of agricultural products will start cultivating cotton on 25,567 hectares of land, receiving plots from a special land fund.
In October 2018, President Berdimuhamedov ordered to stop the sale of cotton fiber to foreign countries. Cotton production in Turkmenistan is planned to be increased to 1,250,000 tons next year.
Cotton used to be a significant export item for Turkmenistan and is a demanded raw material for the country’s dynamically developing textile industry.
This industry is represented in the country by a wide export assortment - from cotton fiber and yarn to finished sewing and knitwear, which are produced by the largest complexes in Central Asia located in the capital and in all regions of the country. A significant part of Turkmenistan’s exported products is made up of home textiles, sportswear and jeans.
