One of the main branches of agricultural production in Dashoguz velayat is cotton farming. This important crop is grown here in large volumes primarily to produce valuable fiber demanded by the textile industry. To further improve the efficiency of the industry, breeding plays a significant role; therefore, consistent work is underway in the region to create new cotton varieties adapted to the different weather and climatic conditions of the northern part of the country and the requirements of the textile manufacturing located here. Specialists from the Dashoguz branch for selection and production of cotton seeds at the Scientific Research Institute of Cotton Growing under the Ministry of Agriculture of Turkmenistan have accumulated extensive experience in developing cotton varieties with optimal economically valuable traits.
“We continue to work on improving and developing the range of medium-fiber cotton varieties 'Dashoguz,' developed in various years in the region and successfully cultivated in its fields,” says Ch. Seyitmyradov, head of the Dashoguz velayat branch of cotton breeding and seed production at the institute. “Currently, we are continuing to develop and create seven new additions to this series. Also, two new varieties developed recently — 'Dashoguz-150' and 'Gubadag-8' — are under review by the expert commission of the Ministry of Agriculture of Turkmenistan. They have successfully passed production trials. For instance, the 'Dashoguz-150' variety was grown on 2.5 hectares at the S. Rozmetov AJSC, and 'Gubadag-8' in the fields of our institution. Compared to the base varieties, these possess higher yields, increased disease resistance, high fiber output, and fiber strength. We hope that the new varieties will be recognized as suitable for mass production and will thus contribute to the development of the cotton-growing industry.”
Considering the volume of raw cotton produced in the region, in recent years, new high-tech enterprises focused on cotton processing have been built in the velayat, such as the cotton-spinning factory in Dashoguz, capable of annually processing over 16.6 thousand tons of cotton fiber and producing 14.5 thousand tons of highly demanded high-quality cotton yarn of the Ring brand in various colors. Also, a new cotton-spinning factory in the Kunya-Urgench etrap is designed to process over six thousand tons of cotton fiber annually and produce cotton yarn using the pneumatic-mechanical "Open End" spinning method, which is in great demand.
These enterprises have managed to gain popularity in the external market in a short time. In the coming years, the region plans to build another modern high-tech cotton-spinning factory focused on processing the cotton grown in the velayat. It should be noted that today the velayat has a large number of cotton-cleaning factories, which, through consistent production improvements, also contribute to processing the raw cotton grown in the region into high-quality and environmentally friendly finished products.
