Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT1636
2008-12-24 15:25:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN GOVERNMENT RELEASES INFLATED COTTON PRODUCTION
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UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001636
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
ANKARA FOR REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL COUNSELOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR EIND ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN GOVERNMENT RELEASES INFLATED COTTON PRODUCTION
FIGURE
REF: Ashgabat 01577
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001636
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
ANKARA FOR REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL COUNSELOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR EIND ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN GOVERNMENT RELEASES INFLATED COTTON PRODUCTION
FIGURE
REF: Ashgabat 01577
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On December 15 President Berdimuhamedov released
a final (unrealistic) figure for this year's cotton crop and
commended provincial Governors on the successful harvest. In
addition, while the President stated that the government paid
farmers in full at the newly-introduced, higher cotton prices
(reftel),according to farmers, this was not the case. The
misleading report was window dressing for the state cotton sector
aimed at impressing the international community. END SUMMARY.
BERDIMUHAMEDOV RELEASES FINAL COTTON HARVEST FIGURE
2. (U) At the December 15 Cabinet of Ministers meeting, President
Berdimuhamedov announced the final cotton harvest figure of
1,000,011 tons. Berdimuhamedov congratulated provincial Governors
on the harvest and commended them for fulfilling their cotton quotas
in a timely manner. In a nod to market economics, the President
said that higher prices now paid to cotton growers made this
possible. Berdimuhamedov said that this is the first stage of his
reform of the state agriculture sector.
BERDIMUHAMEDOV'S CLAIMS MET WITH SKEPTICISM
3. (SBU) However, the actual status of the cotton sector is not as
positive as official assertions claim. The area of 640,000 hectares
allocated to cotton growing and the estimated average yield of less
than one ton per hectare make local experts doubt the President's
cotton harvest figure. According to a local farmer, one hundred
hectares of his cotton fields dd not yield any cotton at all, or
yielded a low harvest due to a lack of irrigation water. In
addition, an Embassy contact from Mary province said that the
President's statement about Governors' timely harvest completion is
not true either. The contact said that a thousand government
employees and farmers from Dashoguz province were drafted to pick
cotton in Mary province, in order to make it possible for the
Governor of Mary to meet the President's deadline. Another Embassy
contact in Dashoguz province said that farmers in his village were
still waiting for payment for their cotton from the State Cotton
Concern, in spite of the fact that Turkmenistan's official media
outlets announced that the government paid cotton growers in full.
In fact, the contact said that he received his 2007 cotton money
only in March 2008.
4. (SBU) COMMENT: The Turkmenistan government continues to view
cotton as its chief agricultural crop or "white gold." However,
instead of addressing problems in state agriculture, and
specifically cotton, sector -- and in order to avoid embarrassment
-- the government continues the practice of false reports and window
dressing. END COMMENT.
MILES
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
ANKARA FOR REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL COUNSELOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR EIND ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN GOVERNMENT RELEASES INFLATED COTTON PRODUCTION
FIGURE
REF: Ashgabat 01577
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On December 15 President Berdimuhamedov released
a final (unrealistic) figure for this year's cotton crop and
commended provincial Governors on the successful harvest. In
addition, while the President stated that the government paid
farmers in full at the newly-introduced, higher cotton prices
(reftel),according to farmers, this was not the case. The
misleading report was window dressing for the state cotton sector
aimed at impressing the international community. END SUMMARY.
BERDIMUHAMEDOV RELEASES FINAL COTTON HARVEST FIGURE
2. (U) At the December 15 Cabinet of Ministers meeting, President
Berdimuhamedov announced the final cotton harvest figure of
1,000,011 tons. Berdimuhamedov congratulated provincial Governors
on the harvest and commended them for fulfilling their cotton quotas
in a timely manner. In a nod to market economics, the President
said that higher prices now paid to cotton growers made this
possible. Berdimuhamedov said that this is the first stage of his
reform of the state agriculture sector.
BERDIMUHAMEDOV'S CLAIMS MET WITH SKEPTICISM
3. (SBU) However, the actual status of the cotton sector is not as
positive as official assertions claim. The area of 640,000 hectares
allocated to cotton growing and the estimated average yield of less
than one ton per hectare make local experts doubt the President's
cotton harvest figure. According to a local farmer, one hundred
hectares of his cotton fields dd not yield any cotton at all, or
yielded a low harvest due to a lack of irrigation water. In
addition, an Embassy contact from Mary province said that the
President's statement about Governors' timely harvest completion is
not true either. The contact said that a thousand government
employees and farmers from Dashoguz province were drafted to pick
cotton in Mary province, in order to make it possible for the
Governor of Mary to meet the President's deadline. Another Embassy
contact in Dashoguz province said that farmers in his village were
still waiting for payment for their cotton from the State Cotton
Concern, in spite of the fact that Turkmenistan's official media
outlets announced that the government paid cotton growers in full.
In fact, the contact said that he received his 2007 cotton money
only in March 2008.
4. (SBU) COMMENT: The Turkmenistan government continues to view
cotton as its chief agricultural crop or "white gold." However,
instead of addressing problems in state agriculture, and
specifically cotton, sector -- and in order to avoid embarrassment
-- the government continues the practice of false reports and window
dressing. END COMMENT.
MILES