Analysis of cotton water productivity in Fergana Valley of Central Asia

Cotton water productivity was studied in Fergana Valley of Central Asia during the years of 2009, 2010 and 2011. Data was collected from 18 demonstration fields (13 in Uzbekistan, 5 in Tajikistan). The demonstration field farmers implemented several improved agronomic and irrigation water management practices. The average values of crop yield, estimated crop consumptive use (ETa) and total water applied (TWA) for the demonstration sites were, respectively, 3700 kg/ha, 6360 m3/ha, and 8120 m3/ha. The range of values for TWA and ETa were, respectively, 5000 m3/ha to 12,000 m3/ha and 4500 m3/ha to 8000 m3/ha. A quadratic relationship was found between TWA and ETa. The average yield of the adjacent fields was 3300 kg/ha, whereas the average yield of cotton in Fergana Valley as a whole was 2900 kg/ha, indicating 28% and 14% increase in crop yield, respectively, from, demonstration fields and adjacent fields. There was no significant difference in crop yields between the wet years (2009 and 2010) and the dry year (2011), which is explained by the quadratic relationship between TWA and ETa. The water productivity values ranged from 0.35 kg/m3 to 0.89 kg/m3, indicating a significant potential for improving water productivity through agronomic and irrigation management interventions. The ratio of average ETa divided by average TWA gave an average application efficiency of 78% (some fields under-irrigated and some fields over-irrigated), the remaining 22% of water applied leaving the field. Since more than 60% of the water used for irrigation in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is pumped from, even if all this 22% of water returns to the stream, substantial energy savings would accrue from improving the average application efficiency at field level. The range of values for TWA indicates the inequity in water distribution/accessibility. Addressing this inequity would also increase water productivity at field and project level

An innovative public-private partnership for irrigation extension in Fergana Valley of Central Asia

A 'farmer-centric' innovative institutional mechanism, a public-private partnership, was created and strengthened, in the Fergana valley of Central Asia, for facilitating communication between farmers and researchers, and to disseminate knowledge on improved agronomic and irrigation management practices to improve water productivity at field level. As a result, yields of cotton from the twenty five demonstration sites in the three countries of Fergana valley - Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - were, on the average, 28% higher than the average yield of cotton in the valley, suggesting that the proposed institutional mechanism was very effective in dissemination of information to farmers. Yields from neighboring farmers of demonstration fields were 14% higher than the average yields. In addition, demonstration site farmers used, on the average, 20% less water than the non-project farmers. Two independent external reviewers stated that this innovative public-private mechanism was very effective in disseminating information on improving water productivity at plot level to farmers, and suggested that the focus in the future should be on devising effective policy and economic instruments for financial sustainability of the innovation cycle after the donor support is withdrawn