Farmers of Turkmenistan successfully cultivate cereals and leguminous crops

Turkmenistan is making large-scale efforts to introduce new, science-based approaches in agriculture. These positive transformations have helped the country's producers increase, in particular, the production of rice and mungbean. This was reported by the correspondent Arzuw.news.

Since the first days of 2024, Turkmenistan's rice-producing enterprises have been storing, processing and preparing the rich harvest for sale. Rice farmers of Dashoguz province, which is famous for cultivation of this crop, have achieved the greatest success. In 2023, representatives of the northern region of the country harvested 35.1 thousand tons from 8100 hectares of land and exceeded the contractual obligations.

The labor victories were due to the large-scale support of the state, which provided various benefits and created favorable conditions for farmers to harvest crops significantly exceeding the planned ones. The main part of rice produced in the oblast is grown in the Saparmurat Turkmenbashi district. Construction of a powerful enterprise for storage and processing of the crop in this district ensured efficient production without losses.

First and second grade rice, rice groats and flour are produced with the help of high-performance equipment. The company has a mill for processing 30 thousand tons of rice, an elevator for storing the same amount of products and two warehouses for cleaning and storing selected varieties of this crop. The activity of the company, which employs more than 140 people, is aimed at ensuring food security and expanding the range of products. The company also has two specialized stores.

Turkmen rice is characterized by its nutritiousness and benefits for human health. This is due to the natural peculiarities of the country, the amount of sunlight during the year, as well as unique and perfect methods of work of rice farmers of the republic. Farmers of Dashoguz province harvest an average of 5-8 tons per hectare of land.

Another important crop is mungbean. It is cultivated by farmers in the warmest and driest regions of Asia. The plant requires hot weather and little water and produces fruit in 75-100 days. Depending on the soil and where it is planted, it should be watered once or twice a week.

Turkmenistan has accumulated solid experience in the cultivation of mungbean on an industrial scale. In 2017, the republic exported 691 tons of products, and in 2022 this figure exceeded 10 thousand tons. This indicates that in five years the export of this crop has increased almost 15 times and continues to grow year after year. The demand for mungbean is high, which ensures its high value on the world market.

In industrial processing, grains are separated by type, size, purity, color and marketability depending on the preferences of buyers. An obligatory condition is the availability of quality seed boxes for subsequent planting. Turkmen entrepreneurs strive to establish export of mash to foreign markets at a high price. This will give an opportunity to profitably purchase the best quality seeds and create their reserve, as well as to recoup investments in a short time.

In Akhal, Dashoguz and Lebap provinces this crop is cultivated without artificial irrigation. The weather conditions of Turkmenistan are suitable for increasing mungbean production on an industrial scale. The plant can be grown in the hot climate of the country as an intermediate crop after spring wheat harvest and before planting winter wheat. Nutritious mungbean straw serves as fodder for livestock.

This cereal does not require large capital investments, only 15-20 kg of seeds per 1 hectare is enough. Availability of powerful agricultural machinery and equipment in Turkmenistan allows sowing work to be carried out in a short time. Long shelf life of the cereal allows exporting it to any part of the world, which expands the geography of potential exports.

Mungbean enriches fields with "useful" nitrogen in the amount of 150-250 kilograms per hectare, which ensures the fertility of the land. The plant passes this chemical element from the air, where its content is 78 percent, into the soil in the form of ions. As a result, nitrogen ionic compounds appear in the composition of the top layer of the soil, which have a beneficial effect on the roots of crops to be planted after mungbean.

This fertilizer option is much more effective for agricultural plants than artificial nitrogen, because chemical additives come only during irrigation in dissolved form, while natural elements affect the root system directly. This experiment was tested in 2020 on a 300-hectare plot of land located in Akbugday district of Akhal province. The yield of wheat after sowing mungbean was almost 2 times higher.

The cereal crop is actively used in crop rotation. The plant creates a green protective layer on arable land, preventing soil salinization during hot summer days. Fields in the course quickly become saline if left fallow in summer. Due to the lack of vegetation cover and overheating of the top layer of soil, all moisture evaporates and the salts it contains crystallize, causing salinization.

Active activity of agricultural producers is of great importance for strengthening the economic power of the country, increasing food abundance, expanding export opportunities through diversification of production. These important tasks set by the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Hero-Arkadag Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will ensure a qualitatively new stage of economic development.