Turkmenistan plans to harvest more than 1mn tonne of cotton

Sowing of a strategic crop for the local economy, raw cotton, has recently started in Turkmenistan, a representative of Turkmenistan's Ministry of Agriculture told Daryo.

"This year, it is planned to harvest 1mn 250 thousand tons of cotton from 580,000 hectares of land." According to tradition, honorable elders are invited to the sowing ceremony.

Turkmenistan, one of the world's top ten cotton producers, reduced acreage this year by 40,000ha. Instead, specialists say they plan to use the land to increase potato and vegetable production.

Most of the cotton is used to produce textiles, which have become a "trademark of Turkmenistan." Local home textiles, sportswear, and jeans are ordered by some Western brands and distributed through WalMart.

The prices of these products at the auctions of the State Commodity Exchange of Turkmenistan are set according to quotes from the Liverpool Cotton Agency.

Credits: Eziz Boyarov