24 Apr 2017 12:54

Cotton planting season starts in Southern Kazakhstan

ALMATY. April 24 (Interfax) - South Kazakhstan farmers have started planting cotton ten days behind schedule, representative of the regional agriculture department Seitzhan Azbergenov told Interfax-Kazakhstan on Monday.

"The weather in the region has been colder than average this year, but cotton prefers warm weather. Compared to the previous year, the area under cotton cultivation will be reduced from 109,600 hectares to 105,000 hectares due to water shortages," Azbergenov said.

"At the moment, farms have planted cotton on 700 hectares in the Maktaaral and Shardarinsky districts," he said.

In 2016, the South-Kazakhstan region harvested 281,000 tonnes of raw cotton.