Government Approaches to the Development of Cotton Production and the Matter of Irrigation in Turkestan in the Early 20th Century

Annotation

The article focuses on government approaches to improving cotton production and land irrigation in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. The research’s relevance lies in the importance of studying irrigation and cotton issues in Turkestan in the context of the economic progress of the Russian Empire in the late Imperial period. The purpose of the article is to clarify the specifics of the views of Russian officials on the problems of improving cotton production and land irrigation in Central Asia in the early 20th century. The research's source base is founded on materials from the Central State Archive of Moscow. The study uses methods of comparison, analysis, classification and description. The Russian Empire entered the era of industrialization, strengthening global trade relations, and the emergence of new transport routes, which had a positive impact on cotton production. Russian entrepreneurs discussed the issues of yarn trade and determining its quality. The article provides quantitative indicators for the transportation of cotton, cottonseed oil and cottonseed in the Central Asian region of the Russian Empire. The study analyzes measures for the development of irrigation in Central Asia in the early 20th century. These activities included the revitalization of vacant lands, the development of private entrepreneurship and the attraction of capital in irrigation, and the improvement of irrigation systems. The author comes to the conclusion that government structures were aware of the need to develop cotton growing and irrigation systems in Turkestan and initiated agricultural regional modernization.

Keywords

• railways
• agriculture
• land management
• industrialization
• Caspian Sea
• irrigation
• cotton transportation
• communication routes
• Russian Empire
• textile industry
• Turkestan
• cotton production
• cotton
• private entrepreneurship
• economic history
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