Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, July 9 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmenpagta has held prophylactic measures at 36 cotton-cleaning plants and 159 procurement centers, an official Turkmen source said today.
The actions are taken on the eve of cotton harvest campaign, which is usually carried out from August to October. Last year it was held in November.
About 1.109 million tons of raw cotton are planned to gather from 550,000 hectares in 2012.
Special attention is paid to soil and climatic conditions of each region.
The current campaign involved about 7,000 tractors, about 2,200 sowing machines, about 5,000 cotton cultivators and other mechanisms.
Equipment is purchased mainly from the United States and Belarus.
In 2011, Turkmenistan prepared about 1.1 million tons of raw cotton.
Traditionally, the country exports it to China, Russia, Great Britain, South Korea, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Singapore, Ukraine and the Baltic countries.
Raw cotton is grown in five provinces (regions) of the country: Akhal, Mary, Lebap, Dashoguz and Balkan.
Moreover, the textile industry in the country is developing on the basis of the domestic processing growth of cultivated raw cotton.
Cotton production (cotton, lint, uluk) is sold through the Turkmen State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange.
According to the development program until 2020, about $2 billion will be invested in Turkmenistan's textile industry.
Each cotton planting region of the country will have its own refining capacities. These measures will help to open approximately 20,000 new jobs.