Cotton production in Azerbaijan
Encyclopedia
Economy of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is an economy that has completed its post-Soviet transition into a major oil based economy , from one where the state played the major role...
, accounting for approximately 25% of agricultural revenue. It occurs mainly in the area west of the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
. Historical records supported by archaeological excavations have established cotton growing in Azerbaijan to the 5th and 6th centuries AD. During the Soviet era, it was termed as the nation's "white gold". Since the fall of the Soviet Union and independence, cotton has significantly declined in output, given that oil and grains are more profitable for Azeri farmers.
Cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
production has become expensive in the country as is evidenced from the fact that the operating expenses for its production in Azerbaijan are now about three times that in United States; said to be US$300 per ha in Azerbaijan. The main reason for this high cost of production is attributed to the low yield of 1.5 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s/ha, a legacy from the Soviet Union. Modernization needs to be implemented to achieve yield levels of 3 tonnes/ha.
Early history
Cotton has an ancient historical record as evidenced by archaeological excavations in MingachevirMingachevir
Mingachevir , sometimes spelled Mingecevir, is the fourth-biggest city in Azerbaijan with a population of about 100,000. It is known as city of lights because of its hydroelectric power station on the Kur River, which splits the city in half....
where burned cotton skein
Skein
Skein may refer to:* A flock of geese or ducks in V formation flight* A wound ball of yarn with a center pull strand, see hank* TV Series, used part of Variety's slanguage.* Skein dubh, a Scottish knife* Skein module, a mathematical concept...
and cotton seeds were unearthed dating to the 5th and 6th centuries AD. It has also been mentioned that Barda, Nakhchivan, Ganja
Ganja, Azerbaijan
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...
, Shamkir and other cities in Azerbaijan exported textiles made of cotton. In the 15th century, cotton produced in Shamakhi was exported to Russia.
Cotton growing areas have generally been the Mil
Mil, Azerbaijan
Mil is a village and municipality in the Beylagan Rayon of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 1,975....
-Mugan
Mugan
Mugan may refer to:*Merkhav Mugan, Israeli air raid shelter*Mugan Khan, Central Asian Khan*Hovtamej, Armenia*Muğan Gəncəli, Azerbaijan*Muğan, Bilasuvar, Azerbaijan*Muğan, Hajigabul, Azerbaijan...
and Shirvan
Shirvan
Shirvan , also spelled as Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both Islamic and modern times...
plains, and Salyan-Mugan, Mil-Karabakh
Karabakh
The Karabakh horse , also known as Karabakh, is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse. It is named after the geographic region where the horse was originally developed, Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus, an area that is de jure part of Azerbaijan but the highland part of which is currently...
, Shirvan and Ganja-Qazakh in the central region. New varieties of cotton such as the sorts from Mazandaran, Iravan, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
were introduced in the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the country had 100000 hectares (247,105.2 acre) under cotton which produced about 65,000 tonnes. In the 19th century, travelers had noted that cotton as a summer crop, locally known as ṣayfī, was sown around April and harvested in dryer regions of Azerbaijan in October. Cotton grown was of the coarse short-staple variety. However, it was also noted that in view of high costs of transport, unacceptable cleaning processes and unreliable packing standards have resulted in decline of its demand in the markets of Europe. Subsequent to the collapse of American cotton exports in the 1860s, Azerbaijan became a large-scale cotton producer, often planted instead of food crops. Though farmers showed resistance to the policies of forced cultivation, it continued nonetheless, with increases through the Russian Revolution. In the late 19th century, Russia tried to establish a supply of cotton by stimulating Azerbaijan cotton production through the gratuitous distribution of cotton-seed but the climate proved to be less hospitable here than elsewhere.
Modern times
Production rose again with the central government's need for cotton at low, fixed pricing, leading to a doubling of land used for cotton production between 1920–1922. By the early 1930s, half of the country's cotton lands were collectivizedCollective farming
Collective farming and communal farming are types of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise...
.
The Azeri industrial magnate Zeynalabdin Taghiyev (d. 1924), founded Azerbaijan's first cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
. Hamideh Javanshir (1873–1955), an Azeri female intellectual, organized employment for women at a cotton processing plant that she had established in Azerbaijan, and in 1912, she participated in the 13th Congress of the Cotton Producers of the Transcaucasus.
Until the late 1980s, Azerbaijan was one of the world's leading cotton producers, producing high yields of raw cotton up to 2.5 tonnes/ha and a gross annual production of 400–500 thousand tonnes. Azerbaijan has the necessary climatic and soil conditions to support such an industry and make it thrive. At peak, Azerbaijan produced 831,000 tonnes of cotton in 1981 and the cotton industry in Azerbaijan accounted for in excess of 25% of earnings from the plant industry in Azerbaijan. Since the beginning of 1987, major cotton sewing industries on collective and state farms, loss of cottons outlets due to low value and decentralization of cotton management to smaller less knowledgeable farmers with a low level of agricultural provisions has resulted in a marked decline in the industry. Also, many firms underwent a transition into "variety mixing" such as Jekot and MKT
MKT
- Codes :MKT is:* the abbreviation used for Market Orders in financial markets.* the reporting mark of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad...
by privatized cotton cleaning plants and widening their activities to distribute the allocated seeds, fuel, fertilizers, and other necessary items. Another reason for decline has been conflict with the Armenians who, since the demise of the Soviet Union, have moved into parts of Azerbaijan.
In 1999, seed cotton production amounted to 101,000 tonnes, from a harvested area of 156000 hectares (385,484.1 acre). Though cotton production has declined, cotton remains the country's largest cash crop into the decade of the 2000s, and while pesticides and insecticides are costly to the Azeri farmer, none of Azerbaijan's cotton is certified organic. On October 27, 2010, the price of Azeri cotton reached its highest level in over 140 years, attributed to bad weather in other countries that led to a decrease in cotton harvesting elsewhere.