The Aral Sea region is the main cotton growing region in what was formerly the USSR. At approximately 45 degrees North, it is at a latitude similar to Minnesota. As you know, cotton is grown in the South of the United States, in California, Alabama and Mississippi, to name a few states. Cotton is definitely not grown in Minnesota because its climate is too cold and its winters too long and harsh. But, this was the far South in the former Soviet Union. In order to grow cotton at all in the Soviet Union, it had to be grown at a latitude, and therefore in a climate, which was not optimal for cotton. The climate has only gotten worse with the depletion of the Aral Sea.
Cotton is labor and water intensive, and the irrigation practices in the Aral region were and still are very inefficient. A great deal of water has been lost due to leaky pipes. The cotton plants were defoliated by Agent Orange, a banned substance in the United States, prior to picking. Rice and melons are also raised in the region.
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