FAO brings together cotton experts from Türkiye and Turkmenistan

Cotton production plays an important role in the economies of both Türkiye and Turkmenistan. Providing the basic input for the textile industry, cotton contributes to the export revenue of the country and the improvement in livelihoods of thousands of farmers and workers engaged in the cotton value chain.

In order to facilitate dialogue and explore potential collaborations between Türkiye and Turkmenistan, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) facilitated a visit for Turkish cotton experts to Turkmenistan, and in this context, organized a workshop on “Improvement of cotton production and mechanized harvesting in Turkmenistan” in Ashgabat on 8 September 2022.

The workshop took place at the premises of the Turkmen Agricultural University named after S.A. Niyazov and was preceded by technical visits to nearby cotton-related facilities including a machinery park (in Akbugday district), a ginning factory (in Gokdepe district), a textile factory (in Ashgabat) and the Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan.

The participants of the workshop included officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, as well as Merdan Piriyev, Vice-rector for Scientific Work at Turkmen Agricultural University named after S.A. Niyazow, academics, representatives of relevant public institutions, experts from the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies of Türkiye, and experts from FAO.

At the opening of the workshop, academics from the university explained that Turkmenistan now harvests almost all of its cotton by machine, noting that the government procured 1 000 modern harvesters for this purpose from abroad and distributed them to machine parks in 38 districts across the five regions of the country – Ahal, Balkan, Dashoguz, Lebap and Mary. They also stressed that, since 2017, the expansion of mechanized harvesting, with government-trained operators, has provided producers with harvesting services similar to other services such as sowing, fertilization, weeding and pesticide spraying.

Observations from the Turkish delegation

Tijen Ozudogru of the Agricultural Economics and Policy development  Institute in Türkiye stated that “overall planning and support services provided by the government constitute the main reason for the relatively faster introduction of mechanization for harvesting in Turkmenistan”.

Mehmet Demirtas, a cotton expert from the Cotton Research Institute located in Nazilli, Türkiye, indicated that “the number of harvesters cited by the Ministry would be sufficient for machine harvesting in the country, as long as these are used efficiently”.

Serife Balci, cotton breeder at the Cotton Research Institute, explained that harvest mechanization in Türkiye has developed significantly over the last two decades, in the process accumulating significant experience.” Balci further added that “the Cotton institute is willing to share this experience to further improve the efficiency of machine harvesting in Turkmenistan and other countries” in the region.

Huseyin Erdikli, another expert from the same institute, stressed that “there is enormous potential for collaboration particularly on the development of cotton varieties that are more productive and suitable for mechanized harvesting”.

At the closing of the workshop, FAO Agriculture Office Fazil Dusunceli stated that “FAO is very pleased to facilitate this collaboration between the two countries and recognizes that there are numerous areas where further collaboration can be developed not only on cotton improvement and mechanization but also in other areas of agriculture”.

Dusunceli also acknowledged the willingness and enthusiasm shown by both parties to further improve this dialogue and develop future collaborations. He concluded the workshop by thanking the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan for hosting the visit and the workshop, and the Turkish delegation for sharing their experience.

The discussions during the visits and the workshop showed that Turkmenistan has made significant progress in recent years in improving cotton production through the transition to machinery harvesting, and in developing its textile industry. It is evident that the country has acquired significant experience in this sector which can benefit other countries. At the same, there is a great scope for further improvement of cotton productivity and efficiency of harvesting by machine harvesters, particularly through improvement in crop production techniques, training and the development of varieties more suitable for harvesting by machinery. In this respect, experts from both Turkmenistan and Türkiye expressed their willingness to collaborate on such areas and invited FAO to facilitate this cooperation.

LINKS:

• Cotton: Markets and trade
• Cotton sustainability is key for rural development
• Recent trends and prospects in the world cotton market and policy developments

CONTACT:

KIVANÇ ÖZCAN

Communication Specialist

FAO Türkiye

Kivanc.Ozcan@fao.org

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