ABSTRACT
Central Asia's economy is among the most specialized in the Soviet Union. In this region cotton development has always been given highest priority. It may be justifiably said that "cotton is king." In Uzbekistan the sector of the economy directly engaged in the cultivation and processing of cotton produces more than 65 percent of the republic's gross output, consumes 60 percent of all resources, and employs approximately 40 percent of the labor force. Central Asia produces approximately 95 percent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics' raw cotton and cotton fibers, 15 percent of its vegetable oils, 100 percent of its machinery and equipment for cotton growing, more than 90 percent of its cotton gins, a large quantity of looms, and equipment needed for irrigation. The traditional orientation of the Central Asian economy toward almost exclusive reliance on cotton no longer corresponds to the region's economic potential. Its rich energy potential would permit the development, alongside the cotton complex, of energy-intensive industries.
