OREANDA-NEWS. March 13, 2009. The important agricultural campaign has been started in Turkmenistan this week. Growing this important technical crop is a priority trend in developing the national agro-industrial sector. The cotton sowing campaign-2009 started right after the historic meeting of the Elders’ Council in Turkmenabat at which President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had presented the strategy of further development of Turkmenistan’s agricultural sector through establishing market relations and achieving full profitability of this basic sector of the national economy.

The cotton sowing campaign has been launched in all the regions except the northern, Dashoguz Velayat. The tasks to conduct agricultural works in an effective and proper manner were specified during the special seminars involving the heads and specialists of the velayats and etrap khyakimliks, subdivisions of Turkmenpagta State Concern, Obahyzmat Association, agricultural joint stock companies and machine-operators who would be engaged in the sowing campaign. In particular, it was reported on the readiness of agricultural machines and mechanisms, availability of fuels and lubricants, high-quality seeds, etc.

This year Turkmen cotton growers are to harvest 1.5 million tons of ‘white gold’. To achieve this high result agricultural workers conducted the land treatment activities in advance. The fields with the total area of 545,000 hectares were laid out and ploughed, watered and irrigated. For the first time, the areas for sowing cotton were allotted in accordance with the soil and climatic conditions of each region. 65,400 tons of seeds were prepared, of them 58,900 tons seeds of medium-stapled cotton varieties and 6,500 tons of seeds of fine-stapled varieties.

Over a thousand of high-powered John Deere, Case and Belarus-1221 ploughing tractors and thousands of MTZ-80X tractor-cultivators, seeding machines are engaged in the campaign. Machine-operators will work day and night to comply with schedule of the important agricultural campaign.