Pilot Projects implemented in Central Asia

Synthesizing of pilot projects, implemented under the “Crop irrigation management for combating irrigation induced desertification in the Aral Sea Basin” (CIRMAN-Aral) project

219 pilot projects was summarized, including:

• 1 — irrigated agriculture
• 2 — groundwater
• 8 — water quality
• 1 — irrigated lands
• 18 — regulation of soil water regime, moisture balance in the soil
• 1 — soil filtration and infiltration
• 51 — water regime dynamics, soil water-salt regime
• 2 — fertility
• 6 — water consumption
• 36 — irrigation schedule
• 8 — irrigation systems and management
• 42 — irrigation methods
• 27 — soil salinization control methods
• 2 — drainage
• 14 — drainage types

Synthesizing of the pilot projects, implemented under the“Assessment of the results of previous pilot projects on irrigation and drainage in Central Asia” project

143 pilot projects were summarized, including: Kazakhstan — 24, Turkmenistan — 8, Tajikistan — 24, Kyrgyzstan — 7 and Uzbekistan — 80, in following topics:

• 27 — irrigation scheduling and crop water consumption norms;
• 75 — drainage;
• 12 — collector and drainage water use for irrigation and leaching;
• 14 — land leaching;
• 28 — crop irrigation technique and technology.

Synthesizing of the pilot projects, implemented under the “Water Use and Farm Management Survey” (WUFMAS) project

The surveys were conducted in 36 pilot farms, including: Kazakhstan — 4, Turkmenistan — 2, Tajikistan — 2, Kyrgyzstan — 4 and Uzbekistan — 10.

Synthesizing of the pilot projects, collected for the International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID). IPTRID is an independent multi-donor trust-fund programme hosted by FAO in its headquarters in Rome, Italy.

IPTRID supports both governments and private sector to identify capacity constraints and take action to remove them, providing assistance to developing countries and countries in transition for the formulation and implementation of strategies and programmes at regional, national and sub-national level, to enable stakeholders to take full advantage of improved water management technologies and practices.

Agricultural water management includes not only irrigation in its more traditional sense, but also water harvesting, drainage of non-irrigated land, flood control to protect land from erosion, etc.

IPTRID aims to reduce both rural and urban poverty, increasing food security and enhancing environmental sustainability by improving the access of farmers, farmers' associations and service providers to appropriate irrigation, drainage, water harvesting, salinity management and flood management technologies and practices. For IPTRID, agricultural water management in its more general sense can play a fundamental role in reducing hunger and poverty in the developing world.

IPTRID's activity includes promotion of irrigation technology transfer and dissemination of research results. For this purposes, IPTRID has produced over time a large number of publications, disseminated widely to researchers and practitioners: all material produced have been aimed at strengthening national capacity in technology transfer and applied research. As a further response to the need of high-quality information on water management in agriculture, IPTRID promotes databases and internet-based systems.