Improve water use efficiency through innovative technologies in irrigation and farming in cereals, potato, vegetable, horticultural and fodder crops
Objectives:
Determine irrigation technologies, cropping systems, institutional setup of water management for improving WUE at household, farm and WUA levels
Geographical Location (s) including the Action Sites:
Fergana Valley (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan)
Research Questions:
Does the distribution of water among farmers, based on an outdated Soviet system, need to be revisited, and how?
Can farmers and water managers make informed decisions on irrigation water management, provided that they have access to real-time information of soil-water content and deficits?
Will application of SMS technology allow planning irrigation scheduling on daily basis, which would lead to a more uniform distribution of water among users?
How to increase efficiency of using water and land resources in winter wheat grown areas with deep and shallow water table; what are irrigation requirements of new varieties of winter wheat? Where are energy and water productivity losses and how to reduce them?
Do current water use practices at household level affect women and men differently; what suitable technologies to improve WUE for women and men at household level?
How can institutional changes in water management affect Water Use Efficiency?
Main activities:
on-farm analyses of water use and water productivity for different crops including double crops;
analysis of energy use efficiency of cultivation of different agricultural crop and land management practices;
assessing impact of institutional setup of water management on water use efficiency
WUE at household level;
Applying SMS technology for irrigation scheduling
Study areas:
Fergana Action Site : K. Umarov WUA; Obi-Ravoni Ovchi Qalacha WCA Samatov WCA in Sogd province, Tajikistan
Partners: ICARDA and IWMI
Local partners:
Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission
PhD students of Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Uzbek Research Institute of Cotton Production
