In 2014, cotton will be sown on 545,000 hectares of land in Turkmenistan to achieve the planned production of 1.05 million tons of cotton, according to a plan approved by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The plan has been framed in view of the ‘President of Turkmenistan’s program of socio-economic development of the country in 2012-2016’, which advises rational use of land, water, agricultural machinery and mineral fertilizers as well as further increase of the cotton production volumes on the basis of control of the high quality of land treatment.
As per the plan approved by the Ministry, cotton seeds will be distributed taking into account soil-climatic conditions.
Through a special resolution, the President of Trukmenistan has assigned the job of cotton sowing and harvesting tools jointly to the Ministry of Agriculture, “Turkmenpagta” State Concern, and governors of Akhal, Dashoguz, Lebap and Mary provinces.
Subsequently, on the basis of contracts made with cotton producers and the terms corresponding with agrotechnical norms, the “Turkmenpagta” State Concern was assigned the job of providing the requisite quantity of seeds, while the “Turkmenobahyzmat” State Association was tasked with providing technical services related to preparation of lands for sowing, cotton sowing, care of them and cotton harvesting. Moreover, the Ministry of Water Economy has been assigned the job of providing appropriate volumes of water for irrigation, whereas “Turkmenhimiya” State Concern is responsible for proper volumes of fertilizers.
As a part of the ongoing reforms in Turkmenistan’s agriculture, crops to be grown have been distributed in provinces and regions in accordance with their soil and climatic conditions. The President has also approved a plan of science-based crop rotation to enhance efficiency and use of lands.
Cotton is the main cash crop of Turkmen agriculture and one of the main exports of the country, second only to energy resources.
In 2012, the Turkmen cotton growers fulfilled their contractual obligations and produced about 1.1 million tons of raw cotton.
