Republican Cotton Conference in Sabirabad

On July 11, a republican conference entitled “Tasks for cotton production in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2019” was held in Sabirabad under the chairmanship of Inam Karimov, Minister of Agriculture.

Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Melioration and Water Economy OJSC, representatives of the district executive authorities, heads of the Ministry of Agriculture, State Agricultural Development Centers and more than 100 farmers engaged in cotton growing, also representatives of cotton processing enterprises took part at a meeting at the Heydar Aliyev Center.

Opening the event, the head of the executive power of Sabirabad, Siragaddin Jabbarov, said that, in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, a number of affairs are being implemented to promote cotton-growing in Azerbaijan. He noted that Sabirabad has great potential and traditions in the field of agriculture, including cotton growing.

Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov said that the development of the agricultural sector was announced by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev as a priority. The Minister noted that the pace of development of the agricultural sector continues as a result of the affairs implemented. Subsidies also are available for the development of grain, seed, livestock, beekeeping, sugar beet and cotton. In addition, the state applies discounts for technical support in the agricultural sector. It is not by chance that as a result of implementation affairs over the past few years, the agricultural sector demonstrates steady growth rates. As a result of the implementation affairs, total agricultural production in 2018 increased by 4.6 percent compared with the previous year and by almost 13 percent in the first six months of this year”.

Noting the rich history and cotton potential of Azerbaijan, the Minister of Agriculture said that decisions, instructions and recommendations of President Ilham Aliyev on cotton cultivation created favorable conditions for the rapid development of this sector in our country.

In his speech, the Minister touched upon comprehensive affairs taken to develop cotton production in Azerbaijan, spoke about the application of the policy of subsidizing cotton production and said that large-scale affairs were taken to provide farmers with fertilizers, equipment and machinery.

I.Karimov informed farmers about the development of cotton growing, goals and prospects, as well as about the work done on the development of agriculture and the upcoming tasks.

Later, by decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev of December 25, 2018, Iskandar Huseynov, Alizamin Nabiyev and Fazil Valiyev were awarded as the Order of Labor of the 1st degree.

The head of the Department of Plant Management and Monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rafail Guliyev, on the theme of the “Tasks, problems and implementation affairs for 2019 on cotton development activities”, Zakir Guliyev, deputy chairman of the Melioration and Water Management OJSC, Rovshan Hasanov, director of MKT Cotton LLC, Bahruz Jamalov, director of Azerpambig ASK, Azer Alizade, director of P-Agro LLC and Vahid Huseynov, director of Az-Agro LLC on the theme of the “Implementation affairs and problems of the current year on cotton development activities” made a presentation at the meeting.

The meeting discussed the prospects for cotton production and emphasized the importance of using intensive technologies.

The meeting with farmers in the format of an active dialogue lasted about 3 hours. The meeting participants shared their views on the implementation of the tasks set in the “State Program on the Development of Cotton Production in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2017–2022”. The parties exchanged views on the shortage of irrigation water, mineral fertilizers, herbicides, medicines and technical support, as well as lending to agribusiness. The heads of the relevant departments of the Ministry answered the questions of the farmers, the proposals were registered, and the heads of the relevant structures and departments were instructed to resolve the issues raised.

At the end of the discussion it was stated that meetings in this format will continue, and farmers will be informed about the work being done to solve these problems.