On 30 July President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov held a video conference with executives of the provinces and the capital and criticized the situation in the agro-industrial sector.
For instance, the head of the state was extremely discontent with the state of the agricultural equipment. According to him, cotton and grain growing farms are “fully equipped with agricultural machinery, spare parts and other equipment”. Nevertheless, tractors, combine harvesters, trucks and other equipment are not technically prepared to be deployed.
The executives of all five provinces made an announcement on preparations for the forthcoming winter wheat sowing campaign. However, no mention was made of the grain yield harvested this year.
On 5 July President Berdymukhammedov said that “the wheat harvesting campaign was almost completed and the harvested crops suggest that the country has ensured its food safety”. Since then there has been no announcement on the closing of the grain harvesting campaign”. The results were also not disclosed.
The news agency “Fergana” mentioned that the newspaper “Neitralny Turkmenistan” published an article on 28 July which says that “Turkmenistan has harvested over 1 million tons of grain this year” compared to the projected volume of 1,6 million tons.