NEWS
PUMPKINS AND OTHER CROPS: DASHOGUZ BUSINESSMEN ACTIVELY STEP UP AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
This year, the production of pumpkins, a popular cucurbit crop with nutritional benefits, has increased in Dashoguz velayat through the efforts of local businessmen.
Pumpkins are known to be highly nutritious. They are high in beta-carotene (converted to vitamin A in the body and is essential for eye health), which is a powerful antioxidant, and contain it four to five times as much as carrots do. A rich source of vitamins (C, E, K, B), zinc, and fiber, the vegetables are a calorie-low and weight-loss friendly food.
Quite a few pumpkin varieties (both locally-bred and foreign) are grown in the north of the country. However, producers and consumers particularly favor two varieties: Bal Kädi (honey pumpkin) with a subtle aroma, and Palow Kädi (pilaf pumpkin). The latter is used by many to prepare the dish to an old recipe: pieces of boiled pumpkin are served together with pilaf. By the way, both varieties highly feature in the national cuisine.
Along with pumpkins, the country’s northern region has considerably boosted the production of its traditional crops: sesame and mung beans. For example, entrepreneur Tachmyrat Ovezov, who holds 75 hectares of farmland in Ýalkym daikhan association, S. Turkmenbashi etrap on a long-term lease granted by the government, grows sesame on a 4-hectare parcel of land), pumpkins (4 ha), and other cucurbits (10 ha). In the past few years, the producer has had abundant crops and has been gradually putting the rest of the farmland to good use.
Nurgeldy Gurbanbaev has also considerable experience of agricultural production. He was granted by the government a 50-hectare plot of farmland on a long-term lease in Altyn Zaman daikhan association, Rukhubelent etrap. The greater part of the farmland is in use now: with 10 hectares planted to sesame, 10 hectares - to mung beans, and 15 hectares - to cucurbit crops.
Thanks to the attractive government incentives, bigger businesses are becoming engaged in agri-production more actively and willingly. A notable example is private enterprise Dürler Hazynasy growing cucurbits and mung beans in virgin fields in Rukhubelent etrap.