Why was cotton called ‘white gold’ in the USSR? (PICS)

Gateway to Russia

Oct 09 2025

Varsham Eremyan. Poster "Work Honestly!". Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 1930

Press service of the Museum of the East

Like gold, cotton was an exceptionally profitable commodity. In the Russian Empire and, later, in the USSR, it was a valuable resource for domestic textile production and, during the Soviet period, it became an important agricultural export.

Cotton cultivation and processing formed the basis of the economies of entire Soviet republics in Central Asia, primarily Uzbekistan. Furthermore, the process of growing and harvesting cotton was very labor-intensive. Therefore, the contents of the cotton bolls were associated with a precious metal, which was also mined with hard labor.

Cotton has been cultivated in Central Asia and the Caucasus since ancient times, where climate conditions were favorable and irrigated agriculture with traditional irrigation systems existed. After its decline during the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, cotton cultivation was again revived during the Soviet period. In the USSR, cotton became a symbol of prosperity not only in the cotton-growing regions of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, but also in the entire country. That's why propaganda posters on the "cotton" theme could be found literally everywhere – from schools to city council offices.

Unknown author. Poster "For Cotton Independence." Tajikistan, Stalinabad (Dushanbe), early 1930s.

Press service of the Museum of the East

Semyon Malt. Poster "We'll Complete Cotton Harvesting on Time." Uzbekistan, 1930s

Press service of the Museum of the East

Varsham Eremyan. Poster "Work Honestly!". Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 1930

Press service of the Museum of the East

Vladimir Chernyshov (?) Poster: "Every piece of fallow land raised for cotton is a blow to the bai, the saboteur, and the opportunist." Uzbekistan, 1931

Press service of the Museum of the East

Alexander Vladychuk. Sketch for the poster "Collective Farm." Turkmenistan, 1932

Press service of the Museum of the East

Nikolay Kostenko. Poster sketch. Turkmenistan, 1930s

Press service of the Museum of the East

Olga Sokolova. Sketch for the poster "Let's Give Soviet Textiles Soviet Cotton." Uzbekistan, 1936

Press service of the Museum of the East

Alexander Nikolaev (Usto-Mumin). Sketch for the poster "All men to pick cotton!" Uzbekistan, 1920s

Press service of the Museum of the East

Alexander Nikolaev (Usto-Mumin). Poster "All men participate in the cotton harvest." Uzbekistan, 1930s.

Press service of the Museum of the East

Mikhail Reich. Poster "For high cotton harvest figures, our Stalinist movement." Uzbekistan, 1936

Press service of the Museum of the East

Mikhail Vorobeychikov. Poster "Cotton for the Front." Uzbekistan, 1942

Press service of the Museum of the East

Konstantin Cheprakov. Poster "Let's Fulfill Comrade Stalin's Order." Uzbekistan, 1949

Press service of the Museum of the East

You can learn more about the cult of cotton at the ‘White Gold’ exhibition, which is on display at the Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow until November 30, 2025.