Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 31
By Huseyn Hasanov– Trend:
A special land fund for agricultural use with a total area of 117,774.9 hectares has been established in Turkmenistan according to the decree signed by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.
In accordance with the established procedure, plots for the long-term use of private agricultural producers for growing crops that are included in the state order for 2019 were allocated from the fund, the report said.
The president ordered to keep the focus on large-scale reforms implemented in agriculture, report said.
To this end, it is necessary to use new, efficient methods of management, systematically expand the share of the private sector in the agricultural industry and support successful tenants, the report said citing Berdimuhamedov.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan intends to stop the export of cotton fiber and to switch to processing of cotton fiber fully within the country.
Raw materials are in demand by dozens of enterprises of the dynamically developing Turkmen textile industry. Until recently, up to 70 percent of the cultivated raw materials were processed in the country. The total area allocated for cotton was 545,000 hectares.
In 2018, it is planned to harvest 1,05 million tons of cotton, including 207,000 tons in Akhal province, 230,000 tons in Dashoguz, 300,000 tons in Lebap, 313,000 tons in Mary. Over 1.1 million tons of cotton was harvested in 2017.