Cotton yield growth expected in Azerbaijan

In cooperation with a number of countries dedicated to cotton growing under the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan, the country planted 10 hectares of delinted cottonseeds with the use of Chinese technology in Ujar District, 5 hectares with the use of Turkish technology in Beylagan District, 7.5 hectares with the use of Greek technology in Tartar and Salyan Districts.

Delinted seeds are mainly imported from Turkey, while whole seeds are local.

In 2019, whole seeds were used in 5% of cotton sown areas, and delinted seeds were used in 95%. Local varieties are used to sow 3.4% or about 3.4 thousand ha of the total area, and over 96% are imported. These are chiefly six varieties of cotton imported from Turkey and used to sow 93% of the area.

In 2020, the sown area of cotton in Azerbaijan will be 110 thousand hectares. In order to optimize sown areas, it is planned to sow cotton in areas with a high yield potential.

It is worth noting that in order to get a cotton yield of 25-30 centners per 1 ha, about 275 kg of mineral fertilizers need to be applied (on plant-food basis).