Comparison of practices

• Use of water resources
• Use of land resources

Use of water resources

Country: Kazakhstan

Province: Jambyl Region

District: Talas District

Other settlement: Village of Sadu Shakirov

Country: Uzbekistan

Province: Fergana Region

District: Qo'shtepa District

Other settlement: Komilzhon Kurbonov Sakhovati Farm

The site is located in the desert foothill plain in South-ern Kazakhstan (internal drain area) at the very end of Sharuashlyk Irrigation Canal.

• Upper stream of the Syr Darya River (Fergana Region);
• Central climatic zone;
• Shallow ground water occurrence;
• Irrigated agriculture within a closed horizontal drainage (CHD) zone

Start date: 01.05.2008

End date: 30.04.2009

Start date: 01.01.2014

End date: 31.12.2015

Acute water shortage; land degradation in the village of Sadu Shakirov; abandoned irrigated arable lands used only for year-round cattle grazing.

For a long time, the irrigation canal was not operation-al and, thus, became dilapidated. The situation in the area was aggravated by climate change impacts (de-creased quantity of early spring, summer and winter precipitation, increased average annual temperature, spring and autumn frost bites and summer droughts).

Deficiency of irrigation water during certain periods of vegetation

Method of autumn and winter water-charging irrigation

Technology of crop irrigation via ground water feeding the level of which is regulated by means of a control device installed in the observation well

Actions:
1) Reconstruction of the canal, stop-gates and field irrigation networks (rehabilitation of irrigation furrows),
2) Setting up artificial pastures with forage crops

Results:

Financial and economic:
Using water-charging irrigation for rangelands allowed increasing their productivity from 3.5 to 5 dt/ha and receiving 60 tons of herbage for cattle and sheep and goats from non-cultivated land.

Technical:
1) 12 km of the canal and 5 stop-gates to regulate water releases restored,
2) 5 km of irrigation furrows built,
3) Cultivated pastures with forage crops created (soil preparation, alfaalfa planting, coordination of irrigation norms),
4) Fields are prepared during the summer-fall period, and watered during late fall or early spring.

The gate devices used abroad are expensive and inconvenient as to their maintenance.  The control device designed by the ICWC Research Center allows regulating ground water level (GWL) by way of altering the device’s height (for example, its height can be 90 cm).  Besides, it is easily installed and dismantled after use.

Actions:

1. Selection and justification of the choice of a plot for potential drainage (admissible ground water mineralization should not exceed 3 g/l);
2. Detailed analysis of interaction between irrigation and drainage on the level of farms and WUAs (Water User Associations);
3. Mounting and installation of GWL control device;
4. Fitting the drained plot with modern tools and monitoring the elements of water-salt balance in the aeration zone;
5. Impact assessment of water supply and GWL regulation on soil humidity and salination, drainage discharge and drainage water mineralization as well as crops productivity.

Results:

Financial and economic:

• Low overall costs of the GWL control device compared to similar foreign devices;
• Increased (5-8%) productivity of winter wheat compared to control land plot.

Technical:

rational use of surface water.

Environmental:

reduced drainage.

Lessons learnt:
Application of water-charging irrigation allowed in-creasing water availability and, as the result, productivity of agricultural crops.

Application of water-charging irrigation demonstrated the efficiency of water use and allowed local popula-tion to go through winter without losing livestock.

Recommendations:
The method can be used in areas/communities where along with crop growing the population is also involved in livestock breeding.

Lessons learnt:

The approach has been proved as a constructive way of converting research outcomes into real-life solutions.  The approach will also help expanding the results of controlled drainage from the field level to the level of WUA and, over time, up to the level of irrigation system.

Recommendations:

It is necessary to scale-up the practice in other regions and districts with identical conditions of irrigated land and install this control model in other CHD zones.

Traditional tools transferred from generation to generation that proved their efficiency in modern conditions

• Domestic tools (outcomes of research by domestic R&D organizations);
• Foreign tools (transfer of foreign experience)

1. Cost of implementation: High

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

1. Cost of implementation: High

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

Project title: Fall and early spring Irrigation of arable land and pastures as an adaptation mechanism of ra-tional water use in Southern Kazakhstan

Duration: May 1, 2008 – April 30, 2009

Project goal and objectives: reduce land degradation due to climate change by way of rational use of irriga-tion water. The project was implemented to prevent loss of cattle due to forage shortage during alternating droughty years.

Project beneficiaries: local population.

Project implementer: Kogal LLC

Project title: Management of irrigation and drainage systems for sustainable productivity growth in the Fergana Valley of Central Asia.

Project duration: Aug 2014-Dec 2015.

Project goals: improve irrigation and drainage systems and enhance the efficiency of crops watering.

Project objectives: manage GWL by way of controlling CHD with the aim of increasing crops water supply, enhance irrigation efficiency and decrease the amount of drainage and pollutants discharge; assess the influence of water supply and CHD regulation on soil humidity and drainage discharge; assess the difference of drainage and drainage water quality between controlled (managed) and conventional drainage models.

Project beneficiaries: target farm.

Project implementer: ICWC SIC.

1) UNDP Compilation “Climate change adaptation: ex-amples from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan”, Tashkent 2012;
2) pandia.org

Dukhovny, V., Kenjabaev, Sh., Yakubov, Sh., Umirzakov, G., 2017. Controlled sub-surface drainage as a strategy for improved water management in irrigated agriculture of Uzbekistan.  Transactions of the 13th International Drainage Workshop of ICID “Drainage and environmental sustainability”, Ahwaz, Iran, March 4-7, 2017.

Collection of research works by ICWC SIC, 15^th Issue, Tashkent City, pp. 109-114.

SIC ICWC

SIC ICWC