Turkmenistan begins sowing cotton, plans 1.25 mln tonne harvest similar to 2021

ASHGABAT. March 27 (Interfax) - Turkmenistan's cotton sowing campaign has begun, according to the country's media.

This year there are plans to sow 580,000 hectares with cotton crops. The areas allocated for cotton cultivation remain at 2022 levels, which are 40 thousand hectares less than in 2021 and earlier. The vacated areas are being allocated for potatoes and other vegetable and gourd crops.

At the same time, the state order for the cotton harvest this year remains at the 2021 and 2022 levels of 1.25 million tonnes.

In 2022, the cotton harvest campaign in Turkmenistan started in the first ten days of September. It was expected that the achievement of the plan would be ensured by an increase in yield. In late October, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov expressed dissatisfaction with the low volume of cotton harvested in the country at a government meeting, and demanded that the regions' leaders accelerate the cotton harvest.

The Turkmen media did not report on the results of the 2022 cotton harvest campaign.

In 2021, the leaders of all five velayats, or regions, of Turkmenistan reported to the President on the completion of the task of harvesting 1.25 million tonnes of cotton.

Cotton growing is one of the leading sectors of the country's agro-industrial complex.

In November 2021, then-President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov announced that all cotton grown in Turkmenistan is now processed domestically.

According to Turkmen media, at present, more than 60 textile enterprises in the country produce various types of cotton and combined yarn, fleece and denim fabrics, as well as finished products from them.