Drought Fears in Karakalpakstan
Drought Fears in Karakalpakstan
Water shortages in the arid Karakalpakstan region in Uzbekistan could be alleviated iwith better agricultural management, according to an NBCentralAsia expert.
Last week, Karakalpakstan’s local assembly and government announced they were expecting a major water shortage this year, and called on people to use water sparingly.
According to Uzbek media sources, Karakalpakstan could have one third less water than it had last year.
Local leaders intend to set up a watchdog to ensure that water is not wasted in this largely farming region.
Karakalpakstan, located downstream on Uzbekistan’s major rivers, suffered from a serious drought in 2000 and 2001 that led to poor harvests and forced many farmers to slaughter their parched lifestock.
Kai Wegerich, an assistant professor of irrigation at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, has studied the causes of that severe drought, and blames water shortages in Karakalpakstan less on climatic causes than on poor agricultural practices across Uzbekistan, in which too much emphasis is placed on cotton as the major export product.
Wegerich said the system where the Uzbek state orders how much cotton is to be produced is not conducive to efficiently water management, since farmers earn little from cotton and support themselves by growing other crops including rice, which needs a lot of water.
Farmers upstream drain off water so there is little left for the Karakalpakstan region further downstream.
Akmal Karimov, a consultant at the Tashkent office of the International Institute for Water Resources Management disagrees with this view.
“No crop, not even those that consume a lot of water, can lead to water shortages,” said Karimov. “The real reason may be inefficient water use due to ignorance.”
“People need to be made aware of the techniques, such as special irrigation methods and ways of guarding crops against drought, that can be employed to ensure water is used as efficiently as possible,” he said.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
Last week, Karakalpakstan’s local assembly and government announced they were expecting a major water shortage this year, and called on people to use water sparingly.
According to Uzbek media sources, Karakalpakstan could have one third less water than it had last year.
Local leaders intend to set up a watchdog to ensure that water is not wasted in this largely farming region.
Karakalpakstan, located downstream on Uzbekistan’s major rivers, suffered from a serious drought in 2000 and 2001 that led to poor harvests and forced many farmers to slaughter their parched lifestock.
Kai Wegerich, an assistant professor of irrigation at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, has studied the causes of that severe drought, and blames water shortages in Karakalpakstan less on climatic causes than on poor agricultural practices across Uzbekistan, in which too much emphasis is placed on cotton as the major export product.
Wegerich said the system where the Uzbek state orders how much cotton is to be produced is not conducive to efficiently water management, since farmers earn little from cotton and support themselves by growing other crops including rice, which needs a lot of water.
Farmers upstream drain off water so there is little left for the Karakalpakstan region further downstream.
Akmal Karimov, a consultant at the Tashkent office of the International Institute for Water Resources Management disagrees with this view.
“No crop, not even those that consume a lot of water, can lead to water shortages,” said Karimov. “The real reason may be inefficient water use due to ignorance.”
“People need to be made aware of the techniques, such as special irrigation methods and ways of guarding crops against drought, that can be employed to ensure water is used as efficiently as possible,” he said.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
