BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 15. Cotton farmers in Iran’s Ardabil Province, located in the northwest of the country, are expecting to harvest about 48,000 tons of raw cotton from the Mughan plain this season, Deputy Director of Ardabil Province Agriculture Department Ahmad Shahriar said, Trend reports.
According to Shahriar, the season runs from October 14, 2023 to January 10, 2024.
He also said that the average yield per hectare is estimated at 4.5 tons of cotton. However, he also said that the area planted with cotton has shrunk by 5,500 hectares compared to last year.
The reason for this is the low profitability of cotton cultivation and the poor prices offered by the factories, the deputy director added.
Shahriar noted that there are nine cotton processing factories in the province and they have been advised to pay fair prices to the farmers. Otherwise, he warned, the farmers might lose interest in growing cotton next year.
In the current Iranian year (March 21, 2023 through March 19, 2024), the price of 1 kg of raw cotton was announced at 280,000 rials (about $6.66).
Meanwhile, Iran's annual need for cotton is 150,000 tons. On average, 250,000 tons of raw cotton is collected and 70,000 tons of cotton is processed in Iran.
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