As Turkmenistan farmers are getting ready to start cotton harvesting later this month, the final agro-technical works are being carried out on the country's 545,000-hectare cotton fields. This year, the farmers are expected to harvest a total of 1,500,000 tons of cotton.

Some 500 cotton harvesters, 700 tractors, commercial vehicles, trailers and other equipment will be involved in the harvesting process in Turkmenistan.

But, the first days of the cotton harvest will begin with manual collection of raw product, while harvester combines will start working on the fields in early September.

In the northern part of the country in Dashoguz Province cotton picking will start later - on 7 September due to the soil and climatic conditions.

Cotton fields are located in four provinces of Turkmenistan - Mary Province (165,000 hectares), the Akhal and Lebap provinces (120,000 hectares each), and the Dashoguz Province (140,000 hectares).

Some 159 procurement stations and 36 gin houses are ready to receive the new harvest. Turkmenistan's cotton growers have harvested over 50 percent of the planned cotton volume worth 1.05 million tons since late August 2013.

Turkmenistan’s largest cotton-spinning factories has become operational three years ago in Turkmenabat, Dashoguz, Geoktepe. Meanwhile, a textile complex was commissioned recently in the Rukhabat district of Ashgabat.