At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on December 17, Deputy Prime Minister Esenmyrat Orazgeldiev , who is in charge of the agro- industrial complex, reported on the work to reduce the area under cotton in the velayats by increasing its yield . The vacated land will be used for sowing potatoes and vegetables and melons, as well as for the production of silkworm cocoons.
According to the state information agency TDH , the area for growing cotton will be reduced by 40 thousand hectares, from the current 620 thousand to 580 thousand hectares. To date, 55,550 hectares of land have been allocated for sowing potatoes, vegetables, melons and other food crops, respectively, now this area will increase to 95,550 hectares.
In 2020, Turkmenistan increased its purchases of potatoes in the EAEU countries eightfold. In 2020, after the closure of the Turkmen-Iranian border due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, there was an acute shortage of potatoes and a sharp increase in their cost . In February, the state media reported that this year in Turkmenistan it is planned to significantly increase the volume of crops of its own potatoes.
Earlier, agricultural workers in the country had to hand over 1.25 million raw cotton every year. The TDH does not specify how much the Deputy Prime Minister intends to increase the cotton yield and whether the plans for its harvest will remain at the same level.
It was decided to increase the annual plan for the production of silkworm cocoons by 200 tons, from the current 2100 to 2300 tons. Additional volumes of cocoons will be grown in Akhal (+145 tons), Balkan (+25 tons) and Mary (+30 tons) velayats.
Growing cocoons has been unprofitable for many years . Many state employees in the villages are forced to do this. People spend time and money on this. Mulberry trees, the leaves of which are the only food for worms, have been cut down almost everywhere. The vacated areas were given over to the cultivation of cotton and wheat. To feed the worms, people travel around nearby villages and buy branches of mulberry trees from the people in whose yards these trees grow.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed the importance of ensuring food abundance in the country, year-round supply of the population with potatoes, vegetable and melon and other agricultural products of its own production.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan