Azernews.Az

By Narmina Mammadova

The number of varieties of cultivated colored cotton may increase in Azerbaijan.

Head of the State Seed Control Service of the Ministry of Agriculture Imran Jumshudov said that two varieties of colored cotton were grown so far in order to accumulate experience.

“Cotton seeds were delivered from China. According to Chinese experts, these varieties are suitable for cultivation by no means in all countries of the world, and they do not produce a normal crop everywhere. However, the climate of Azerbaijan makes it possible to grow such varieties of cotton, as colored and organic,” he noted.

The head of the state service said that these seeds were planted in the sown area of the Regional Agrarian Scientific Information Center of the Terter region.

“Very good results have already been achieved: at present cotton is at the stage of maturation," Jumshudov pointed out.

He went on to say that the cultivation of organic cotton makes it possible not to use chemical dyes for dyeing children's clothes, but to make clothes from colored cotton.

It is planned to grow other flowers of this cotton further in Azerbaijan, Jumshudov said.

“For the time being, brown and light-brown cotton is grown in Azerbaijan. However, there are also varieties of red, green, light pink and blue cotton. If the already planted varieties give a big harvest, in the future other varieties of colored cotton can be grown in Azerbaijan,” he added.

Jumshudov further said that this variety of cotton is superior to local ones in quality and fineness of the fiber.

The cotton industry, which was once the traditional branch of agriculture in Azerbaijan, is effectively reviving today.

Cotton production is most developed in Saatli (25,437 tons), Bilasuvar (24,234 tons), Barda (21,552 tons), Aghjabadi (19,555 tons) and Sabirabad (17,608 tons).

President Ilham Aliyev, who constantly made accent on importance of developing of this sphere, raised this issue once again at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to results of socio-economic development in the first half of 2017 and objectives for the future.

The head of state said Azerbaijan restored the glory of cotton growing by increasing crop area of cotton by about three times.

In early 2017, the State Program for 2017-2022 was approved with an aim of strengthening measures directed at developing this sphere. The purpose of the State Program is to develop cotton growing, increase export potential in this sphere, ensure employment of the rural population and increase the production of cotton.

The new goal of the state is to bring the cotton production up to 500,000 tons by 2022 from the current 260,000 tons.

There are ancient traditions of cotton in Azerbaijan. A flap of cotton fabric was found several thousand years old, during excavations at the construction site of the Mingachevir Hydroelectric Power Plant.

Cotton is a drought-resistant plant, but it does not tolerate frost and low temperatures, so Azerbaijan is a safe place to grow it.

At the beginning of the eighties, Azerbaijan harvested up to a million tons of cotton per year. But then, like all other industries, as in all other Union republics, cotton growing declined and it could not receive the necessary investments for revival for a long time after that.

That is, on the one hand, Azerbaijan has a rich potential and experience in this matter, whereas, on the other hand, there is a high need. The oil era is coming to an end, or at least the events of recent years have made the world's oil countries understand that the state treasury is not filled with oil, and attempts to prove the opposite are fraught. And Azerbaijan became one of the first countries that promptly reacted to the challenges of the time, set as one task the diversification of the economy, in particular, the development of the non-oil sector.

On top of that, cotton growing is a highly profitable segment of the agrarian industry. Cotton is used in various areas of life. It goes to the textile processing for the production of cotton yarn first of all. Cotton is used to produce fabrics, knitwear, threads, cotton wool and more. Cotton fluff and cotton mats are used in the chemical industry as raw materials for the manufacture of artificial fibers and threads, films, varnishes, etc. It is also used in explosives ... The practice of other states shows that cotton production can bring millions to the budget.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz