At the Cabinet session held on 17 August 2018 the President of Turkmenistan signed the resolutions pursuant to which 760 thousand hectares of land are envisaged to be allocated for winter crops and 1,6 mln tons of grain in 2019 are projected to be harvested.
Nevertheless, neither this year nor last year Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov briefed on the volume of the grain harvest. Before that the state-run media outlet had always reported about the crops volume instructed to be harvested by the President.
On 5 July 2018 the President said at the session of the Cabinet of Ministers that the grain yield suggests that the country has ensured food security and that the grain surplus can be exported overseas.
At the same time, for the second year in a row the President has been discontent with the situation in the agro-industrial sector.
In 2017 the grain harvest shortfall resulted in a deficit of local flour this year which subsequently caused queues formed in front of the stores and the price hike for imported flour.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan