Editing Geography of Turkmenistan (section)

===Chemical pollution===
The most productive [[cotton]] lands in Turkmenistan (the middle and lower Amu Darya and the Murgap oasis) receive as much as 250&nbsp;kilograms of fertilizer per hectare ({{Convert|250|kg/ha|abbr=on|disp=out}}), compared with the average application of {{Convert|30|kg/ha|sp=us|spell=in}}.<ref name=":0" /> Furthermore, most fertilizers are so poorly applied that experts have estimated that only 15–40% of the chemicals can be absorbed by cotton plants, while the remainder washes into the soil, and subsequently into the groundwater.<ref name=":0" /> Cotton also uses far more pesticides and defoliants than other crops, and application of these chemicals often is mishandled by farmers.<ref name=":0" /> For example, local herdsmen, unaware of the danger of DDT, have reportedly mixed the pesticide with water and applied it to their faces to keep away mosquitoes.<ref name=":0" /> In the late 1980s, a drive began in Central Asia to reduce [[agrochemical]] usage.<ref name=":0" /> In Turkmenistan the campaign reduced fertilizer use 30% between 1988 and 1989.<ref name=":0" /> In the early 1990s, the use of some pesticides and defoliants declined drastically because of the country's shortage of hard currency.<ref name=":0" />