Turkmenistan is well known for its spectacular handmade carpets and pure-bred horses, but more recently it has made another name for itself – as one of the leading strawberry producers in the region. This is despite the country’s dry climate (it is mostly covered by the Karakum desert), making it difficult to grow strawberries in the usual way.
“I decided to produce strawberries because I remember the sweet taste of berries that my grandmother grew in her garden,” recalls Batyr Ravshanov, owner of Tudana, a family strawberry business in Turkmenistan. “Strawberries are something pleasant that I associate with my childhood.... Now we have six hectares of greenhouses producing strawberries.”
Tudana is the biggest strawberry business in Turkmenistan and serves more than 300 outlets across the country. It also exports to neighbouring Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where Tudana has recently opened a branch.
“Tudana’s clients range from small grocery stores to hypermarkets, restaurants, confectionery producers, and hotels. But ultimately, we want people to eat and enjoy healthy and tasty berries. We have introduced a culture of strawberry consumption in Turkmenistan. At the beginning of our journey, we hardly sold 200 kg a day, but now we sell more than two tonnes, which indicates a sustainable increase in consumption,’’ shares Batyr.
Better business processes
In 2020 Tudana received an EBRD loan and a grant incentive from the European Union which allowed it to increase its production area by 1.5 hectares. The company also benefited from the EBRD’s Advice for Small Businesses programme. International consultants helped Batyr to improve the greenhouses’ irrigation system and use water sustainably. They also suggested changing the composition of fertilisers based on an analysis of the water, climate, and light conditions.
“We’ve drastically changed our business processes. As a result, we’ve almost doubled our strawberry production, from 56 to 100 tonnes a year. We’ve reduced the use of pesticides by 95 per cent while using better pest control. And in our greenhouses, we use 20 times less water to produce 1 kg of strawberries when compared to outdoor production,” says Batyr.
The consultants also helped Tudana develop a strategy and mission, long-term business objectives and new HR tasks with detailed job descriptions.
“We are planning to increase the variety of strawberries we grow and are constructing a nursery for strawberry seedlings. We are also working on developing an innovative way of cultivating strawberries indoors. This method is innovative not only in our region, but also worldwide. We hope to reach the international level and by 2030 to operate city farms in several big cities of the world,” shares Batyr.
Behind all of this success is family, as Batyr explains: “We have very close family ties in Turkmenistan. My wife and I have three great kids, but we are just a small part of a bigger family. Their love and support inspire us to achieve new goals.”