Cotton is the major source of Turkmenistan's export and raw material for dozens of modern enterprises of the dynamically developing textile industry of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan allocated total area of 545,000 hectares for cotton production.

Ahal province is the leader among the country’s provinces, where almost 71 percent of the planned volume has been harvested.

Turkmenistan has harvested more than 64 percent, or over 676,000 metric tons of cotton to date, Turkmenpagta (Turkmen cotton) state concern said.

Around two percent (20,500 metric tons) of the planned volume of cotton is harvested throughout the country per day.

Some 158 cotton collection points in the country operate almost round-the-clock, receiving the cotton collected during the daylight.

But Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed dissatisfaction at the governmental meeting with the pace of the agricultural work, primarily cotton harvesting and demanded to make the necessary organizational arrangements in order to ensure that the regions fulfill their commitments on delivering raw cotton.

The country started to harvest cotton in early September. It is planned to procure 1.5 million metric tons of raw cotton.