Turkmen President points to low rates of cotton harvest

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov chaired a working meeting with the heads of ministries and departments, as well as the regional administration, the Turkmen government said. The issues of seasonal agricultural work and in particular, the cotton harvest are on the agenda.

Berdymuhamedov stressed "The low pace of the cotton harvest concerns me. The timely cotton harvest and proper organisation of settlements with tenants are the main time consuming areas." The head of state instructed that all measures are taken to increase the pace of the cotton harvest effectively using the technology involved in the harvesting.

It was also noted that the timely mutual settlement of accounts with cotton growers for harvested 'white gold' will ensure smooth running of the cotton harvest and an incentive to further improve productivity.

In this regard, the need for proper organisation of this activity by the local branches of the state commercial bank Daykhanbank was noted.

The cotton harvest campaign was launched on August 22. This year, it is planned to collect 1.109 million tons of raw cotton from 550,000 hectares.Turkmenistan harvested 1, 100, 00 million tons of raw cotton last year.

Traditionally, the country exports raw cotton to China, Russia, Britain, South Korea, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Singapore, Ukraine and the Baltic countries.

Cotton production (cotton, lint and uluk) is sold through the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of the country.