Turkmenistan gathers 850,000 tonnes of cotton

Turkmenistan, one of the world's driest nations, gathered 850,000 tonnes of raw cotton in 2006, only 40 percent of the planned 2.2 million tonnes, the government said on Friday.
Last year's harvest was 740,000 tonnes. The 2.2 million tonnes target has been unchanged since 2003. Turkmen farmers and agriculture officials are under pressure from the state to fulfil ambitious harvest goals. Turkmenistan is run by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov who tolerates no dissent and controls every aspect of life in his desert nation of six million.