Cotton growers have collected high crop

Despite the decline in acreage by one-third, and stable domestic purchase prices, Azerbaijan raised this year's cotton harvest by 16% more than in the same period of 2011.

According to the committee, as of November 1 Azerbaijan collected and transferred to ginneries 48.9 thousand tons of raw cotton. This is 7,000 tons more than in the same period of 2011. An expert of the Ministry of Agriculture Rovshan Aliyev told Turan this year cotton yield is high, which is also associated with the use of productive varieties. In addition, private companies use more than 35 cotton harvesters purchased in the U.S. It is expected that by the beginning of December the country will collect about 55,000 tons of cotton.

A ton of cotton in Azerbaijan is purchased at the price of 420 manat. Farmers claim that due to the cost, profitability of the industry is extremely low. However, because of the crop rotation, farmers are forced to grow cotton too.

In 2011, cotton in Azerbaijan was grown on 42.8 thousand hectares and the crop totaled 66.4 thousand tons. The yield from 1 ha averaged 15.5 quintals. This year, the yield increased on average by 1.3 quintals per 1 ha. - 08B -