„aral sea crisis“ and khorezm project
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Beyond the Aral Sea Syndrome: Economic and Ecological Restructuring of Land- and Water Use in the Region Khorezm (Uzbekistan). - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Beyond the Aral Sea Syndrome:
Economic and Ecological Restructuring
of Land- and Water Use in the Region
Khorezm (Uzbekistan)
Ahmad M. Manschadi, John P.A. Lamers, Iskandar Abdullayev,
Christopher Conrad, Asia Khamzina, Bernhard Tischbein,
Mehmood Ul Hassan, Gerd Rücker, Paul L G Vlek and many
others
„Aral Sea Crisis“ and Khorezm Project
Aral Sea Syndrome
- “… refers to the problems associated with centrally
planned, large-scale projects involving water resource
development”
- Desiccation of Aral Sea = “the greatest environmental
catastrophe ever caused to regional water resources
by mankind”
„Aral Sea Crisis“ and Khorezm Project
Desiccation of Aral Sea- Area diminished by 74%;
volume by 90%
- 10-fold increase in water
salinity (from 10 to >100 g -1)
- Creation of Aralkum desert
- Decimation of native fish
species
(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Aral_Sea.gif)
„Aral Sea Crisis“ and Khorezm Project
Desiccation of Aral Sea- Area diminished by 74%;
volume by 90%
- 10-fold increase in water
salinity (from 10 to >100 g -1)
- Creation of Aralkum desert
- Decimation of native fish
species– Initiation of dust/salt storms
–Degradation of deltaic biotic
communities
- Collapse of the fisheries:
Loss of livelihood for 60,000
people
- Local climate change
- Human health problemsNASA MODIS Image: May 11, 2007 - Dust Storm over the South Aral Sea
„Aral Sea Crisis“ and Khorezm Project
Aral Sea water balance
(Micklin 2007)
stable Significantdeficits
drought
Aral Sea Restoration?
average annual discharge in the next 20-30 years = 10 km3
Restoring size and level to pre-1960s = 46 km3
Reducing irrigation water use by 50% (~ 50 km3)
16 billion USD invested in renovation of irrigation network would
save 12 km3
Full restoration appears impossible
„Aral Sea Crisis“ and Khorezm Project
Expansion of irrigation: 5 to 7.9 million ha between 1965 and 2000
Reduction in Aral Sea surface area 5 million ha
http://unimaps.com/aral-sea/index.html
Khorezm region:
270,000 ha irrigated1.3 million people
Khorezm Region – Water Productivity
Agricultural production and rural livelihood rely entirely
on irrigation water supply
Major crops: cotton, wheat, rice
Khorezm Region – Regional Economy
Cotton (White Gold) plays a key role in the regional
economy: GDP ~ 16%;
Products Value,
billion UZS Value,
million USD Share, % Total export value of Khorezm 98.591 88.463 100.0 Ginning industry cotton fibre 93.970 84.316 95.3 Oil extracting cotton edible oil 0.936 0.840 0.9
cottonseed meal and cake 0.099 0.089 0.1
Textile industry
yarn fabrics garments 2.611 2.343 2.6
Total CVC 97.615 87.587 99.1
(Rudenko, 2008)
Export from cotton value chain in 2005
Only 10% of total fibre production is locally
processed
Underdeveloped agro-processing industry
Khorezm Region - Characteristics
Resource use
– Enormous, inefficient water use
5 km3 for 275,000 ha irrigated land (>2000 mm )
overall irrigation system efficiency ~26%
– Low soil quality
20% of soils bonitet < 40 (24,000 ha marginal land)
– Secondary soil salinisation
>50 % of cropland is moderately to highly saline
– Inadequate, inefficient and poorly-resourced
irrigation management institutions
Khorezm Region - Characteristics
State order system– Strong government control of farm-level decision-making
constrains the adoption of innovative technologies and
concepts
Performance of agriculture sector– Low crop yields, inefficient management and resource use
– Underutilised and poorly-developed agro-processing
industry
– Rural poverty: 27.5% lives below poverty line (1$/day)
– Lack of incentives for improving land and water use
efficiency
ZEF/UNESCO Project
Economic and Ecological Restructuring of
Land and Water Use in the Region Khorezm
Project duration: 2001 - 2011
Donor: German Federal Ministray of Education and Research
(BMBF)
Project objectives: Develop comprehensive, science-based restructuring
concepts for sustainable management of land and water
resources;
Improve the capacity of regional institutions for
implementing the alternative approaches and solutions;
Serve as a model for sustainable development concepts
throughout the Aral Sea Basin;
Academic capacity building (M.Sc. and PhD students).
Uzbekistan Project
Key research areas; interdisciplinary approach
ZEF/UNESCO Project
Overall goal: restructuring concept
Degraded Cropland - Afforestation
Biomass production
N fixation
C sequestration and soil
fertility
Soil salinity control
Fuelwood supply
Nutritive value of leaf
fodder
Financial profitability
March 2004
May 2006
Productive Cropland
Enhancing water productivity:
– Socio-technical improvements in irrigation water distribution and management (concepts, models, GIS/RS-based monitoring systems)
Increasing cropping systems productivity
– Conservation agriculture (reduced tillage, residue retention, crop diversification)
– Adequate fertiliser application
– Optimisation of crop allocation and production inputs
Improving rural livelihoods
– Value chain analysis
– Agricultural service organisations
– Agro-processing industry
Productive Cropland
Implementing and adapting innovations with stakeholder groups: “Follow the Innovation”
Transdisciplinary approach
Human Capacity Building
PhDs: total 39, completed 19
M.Sc. Program: 59 M.Sc.
33 Bachelors at UrDU trained
12 Post-Docs (6 at ZEF, 1 DLR, 5 in Urgench)
3 INTAS Post-Docs in Urgench
2 Uzbek Professorships concluded
Scientific Output
International scientific articles 50
Books 4
Contributions at international
conferences
>70
Work Papers (www.uni-bonn.de/khorezm) 11
Scientific articles in Uzbekistan 58
Contributions at conferences in
Uzbekistan
25
Completed Ph.D. theses 19
Completed M.Sc. theses 59
Science/policy briefs in the ZUR series 7
Project Partners
Project Website
http://www.zef.de/khorezm.0.html