Use of water resources

Country: Uzbekistan

Province: Fergana Region

District: Qo'shtepa District

Settlement: Komilzhon Kurbonov Sakhovati Farm

• 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: 01.01.2014

End date: 31.12.2015

Deficiency of irrigation water during certain periods of vegetation

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

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:

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.

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

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.

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.