Turkmenistan hails 1.4-million-tonne wheat haul after modern machinery drive

Turkmenistan has gathered 1.407 million tonnes of wheat, matching its 2025 goal after a round-the-clock harvest on 690,000 hectares that officials say was bolstered by new combines and higher state purchase prices.

The agriculture ministry said 2,111 John Deere and Claas machines worked “non-stop” to bring in the crop, which was delivered to state granaries by Thursday. President Serdar Berdimuhamedov praised farmers, daikhan associations and private growers for a “brilliant labour victory” in a message published on Friday.

Procurement prices were raised last year to 2,000 manats per tonne (about $1,176 per tonne), a 25 % increase designed to improve farm margins and encourage investment. The government has also channelled funds into fertiliser plants, grain elevators and new irrigation works to curb losses in the desert republic, officials said.

A Scientific Research Institute of Grain Farming, launched in 2024, supplied three high-yield varieties—Serdar, Arkadag and Pyragy—that accounted for most of this season’s plantings. The ministry said the hybrids outperform older cultivars by “10-15 %” in arid conditions, although independent data were not provided.

Turkmenistan, which targets self-sufficiency in staple foods, imported roughly 100,000 tonnes of milling wheat last year, according to United Nations trade figures. Officials expect the latest harvest to cover domestic demand and leave a modest surplus for strategic reserves.

The government is also allocating land from a Special Fund to private producers, part of wider reforms aimed at diversifying an economy still dominated by natural-gas exports. Further policy measures will be outlined at a cabinet meeting later this month, state media reported.

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