Farmland Under Threat

The increased rate at which farmland is deteriorating in Tajikistan is damaging the agricultural sector, and could undermine the chance of sustainable social and economic development, according to NBCentralAsia analysts.



Tajik agriculture ministry experts told a press conference last week that over 97 per cent of the country’s usable land had deteriorated in quality over the last 15 years, while the area of arable farmland had fallen sixfold.



Tajikistan’s mountainous terrain means only five per cent of its total territory is used for agriculture – one of the lowest proportions in the world. Experts interviewed by NBCentralAsia say soil degradation and desertification are a consequence of badly-conducted irrigation, deforestation, and a shortage of fertilisers.



“The main reasons behind the shrinking the area of arable lands are that land gets taken to build industrial plants, housing and roads; and that farmland is affected by salinisation and waterlogging,” said Nuriddin Zardiev, an agriculture ministry staff member.



Zardiev cited figures that indicate that the failure to work on land improvement, and the increase in areas of waterlogged, salty soil result in annual losses to the Tajik economy equivalent to 500,000 tons of grain.



Saulius Smalis, environmental advisor with the OSCE in Dushanbe, told NBCentralAsia that Tajikistan loses around 50,000 hectares of arable land every year. He recommends urgent action to prevent serious demographic problem as people leave the land.



“The high rates of migration by rural people inside the country are a consequence of low harvest yields, so that people are forced to move to the cities to earn money,” explained Smalis. “Assuming the current population growth rate continues at two per cent a year, in 15 years’ time the problem will assume enormous proportions.”



Davlatshoh Gulmahmadov, director of the government’s agency for land improvement and cartography, agrees that swift measures are needed – but says there are no government funds to do so.



“It will take a lot of money to restore this land. It’s estimated that it will cost over 3,000 [US] dollars to revive [one hectare of land],” said Gulmahmadov.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)