A survey of land, vegetation and irrigation systems in North Afghanistan and neighboring Tajikistan

This paper describes the results of a field expedition work along the rivers Vakhsh and Pyandzh in Tajikistan and Afghanistan within the framework of a Joint Research Project: Investigation of natural resources of Central Asia and reconstruction of agriculture in Afghanistan, supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Japan and represented by professor Tsuneo Tsukatani, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Kyoto Institute of Economics, Kyoto University, Japan; also supported by a Grant in Aid for Scientific Research, The Ministry of Education and Culture of Japan, 2003 (Monbusho International Scientific Joint Research Program, No. 15252002), represented again by professor Tsuneo Tsukatani. The field expedition was carried out in September 2003 according to the Joint Project Research Program to study the natural resources and the contemporary state of irrigation systems in the Pyandzh River basin.Agriculture, Desertification, Environmental policy, Farming system, Irrigation system, North Afghanistan, Pyandzh River, Rangelands improvement, Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI), Water quality

The Economy of Opium and Heroin Production in Afghanistan and Its Impact on HIV Epidemiology in Central Asia

The dramatic increase of poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan has led to a serious drug addiction problem in te world. The rising heroin use, because of needle sharing, may lead to a much higher incidence of HIV infection and AIDS in Afghanistan in the future. We organized two expeditions into Afghanistan itself, one through the capital, Kabul and the other through Tajik border on Am-Darya River and along the regions bordering the Central Asian countries. These expeditions included observations on sites and taking photographs and videos, sampling of soil, vegetation and water at random locations for further analysis, interviews with local authorities, and so on. We also used the data provided by other colleagues and organizations. We compared their information with our findings and sometimes used them to enrich and/or correct our own estimates. The production and trade of illicit narcotics is one of the most significant challenges to progress in Afghanistan. As an economic challenge, it diverts agricultural land and labor from more beneficial uses and undercuts the prospects for developing more sustainable lvelihoods. However, a solution for problems associated with poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan requires the inclusion of many srategies. Providing the local farmers with appropriate economic substitutes for poppy is one of such strategies. Other strategies include assistance with agricultural needs such as irrigation systems and seeds, provision of training to farmers for cultivation of other crops, revival of the agricultural infrastructure including irrigation systems, assisting with economic needs of small farmer.Poppy, heroin, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, irrigation agriculture, HIV/AIDS, Amudarya, international cooperation

Interstates Cooperation for Irrigation of Amu Darya River Banks, Its Potential Role as a Solution for the Poppy Problem

Depletion of water resources requires us to search for non-conventional strategies for water preservation and irrigation. Sustainable management of such water resources along with the development of sustainable irrigation systems will contribute to the stability of agricultural yield that is a primary concern in all riparian countries (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan). This paper is an attempt to identify the priorities in the reconstruction assistance planned for all riparian states on Amu Darya river. The problem of growing, processing and traffic of illicit drugs in Afghanistan is then analysed, searching for the economic, social and political causes, with an emphasis on its implications for the future development and the geopolitical picture of the Central Asian region.Afghanistan, Amu Darya River, Central Asia, Drug control programs, Subsurface Drip Irrigation(SDI), Poppy fields, Uzbekistan, Water resources.

Water resources assessment, irrigation and agricultural developments in Tajikistan

This paper provides a description of current state of water resources assessment in Tajikistan, their use for the agriculture development and maintenance of irrigation infrastructures. The Vakhsh and Pyandzh River Basins and its tributaries in Tajikistan were directly surveyed during an expedition within the framework of a Joint Research Project: Investigation of natural resources of Central Asia and reconstruction of agriculture in Afghanistan, that is supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Japan Grant in Aid for Scientific Joint Research, 2003, No. 15252002), that is represented by professor Dr. Tsuneo Tsukatani, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Kyoto Institute of Economics, Kyoto University, Japan. The field expedition was carried out in September 2003 according to the Joint Project Research Program to study the natural resources and contemporary state of irrigation in Pyandzh River basin.water resources, cropping system, irrigation infrastructure, Tajikistan, Subsurface drip irrigation, SDI, Pyandzh, AmuDarya, Kumsangir, Vakhsh

Uranium Mine Aftermath and Yangiabad Expedition in Uzbekistan

This article describes the first half of a history of uranium mines in the Fergana Valley of Central Asia, introduces the existing environment of the old mines, and analyzes a part of heavy metals of water resource in the surrounding. Fergana Valley itself has a long history of civilization, to which Chinese called Dayuan, going back to the conquest of Alexander the Great in 329 BCE or the description of a Chinese explorer Zhang Qian in 130 BCE. After the Second World War, however, Soviet Union polluted the area with heavy metal and radioactivity where a dense monoculture of cotton was developed. A great number of uranium works are located in the landslide zone and are currently exposed to destruction, thus causing radioactive pollution of the surface and underground water. The rehabilitation will cost a huge amount of cost and time. Uzbek and Japanese team dispatched a joint expedition in October 1998 to Yangiabad, one of the former uranium mines, and sampled surface water and particles in the sediments. Japanese side has studied 58 points and Uzbek side has studied 13 random points located in the Yangiabad sites. ICP-MS analysis showed that the uranium concentration of the river water around Yangiabad was unbelievably high (10 to 1,000 ppb-U238).

A survey of land, vegetation and irrigation systems in North Afghanistan and neighboring Tajikistan

This paper describes the results of a field expedition work along the rivers Vakhsh and Pyandzh in Tajikistan and Afghanistan within the framework of a Joint Research Project: Investigation of natural resources of Central Asia and reconstruction of agriculture in Afghanistan, supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Japan and represented by professor Tsuneo Tsukatani, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Kyoto Institute of Economics, Kyoto University, Japan; also supported by a Grant in Aid for Scientific Research, The Ministry of Education and Culture of Japan, 2003 (Monbusho International Scientific Joint Research Program, No. 15252002), represented again by professor Tsuneo Tsukatani. The field expedition was carried out in September 2003 according to the Joint Project Research Program to study the natural resources and the contemporary state of irrigation systems in the Pyandzh River basin

A Farm in Kumsangir of Tajikistan: A Perspective of Water/land Use along Pyandzh River

We carried out an assessment of natural resources use and management along with the on-farm observations and experience gathered through a fieldwork expedition along the riparian basin of Pyandzh River from Tajik side. It is described the natural vegetation irrigation history, technologies, agriculture, crops diversity and farmer development system through this vast area of Khatlon Province of Southwestern Tajikistan. Target area is Kumsangir District and Mumin Farm in the district along Pyandzh River. By performing this survey, we could further examine our preliminary studies on the potentials for agriculture using of Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) technique on the right bank of Pyandzh River. Many of the local farmers, pastoralist communities, and some of the agricultural authorities and governmental leaders were interviewed to help understand the history of their irrigation infrastructures, their concerns on the issue of land use and agricultural activities, and their outlook and desires to implement cost-effective watershed-scale water saving technologies.natural resources, subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), Pyandzh, Amu Darya, Kumsangir, water quality

Extent of Salt Affected Land in Central Asia: Biosaline Agriculture and Utilization of the Salt-affected Resources

The current status and trends of salinization are discussed with waterlogging of marginal land/plant and water resources problems including strategies for development of integrated biosaline crop-livestock agriculture based system on food-feed crops and forage legumes for better livelihood of poor farmers in Central Asian (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan). Transfer of technologies and/or methodology of ICBA (International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture) in planting of both perennial and annual valuable halophytes (based on around the world dataset from similar sites and conditions) are a new approach that should be tested in Central Asia. Afforestation, as an option to mitigate land degradation, requires a judicious evaluation and selection of multipurpose tree species (MPTS) to make use of marginal unproductive/salt- affected lands and lower the elevated groundwater table (GWT) via biodrainage. The leading among 21 screened native and introduced tree and shrubs species with regards to survival rate, growth characteristics and adaptability to high saline natural environment proved to be Haloxylon apphyllum, Salsola paletzkiana, S. richteri at the saline sandy deserts, followed by atriplex undulate, Hippophae ramnoides, E. angustifolia, Acacia ampliceps, U. pumila, P. euphratica and P. nigra var. pyramidalis, Robinia pseudoacacia, M. alba, Morus nigra on clay loamy hyromorphic soils, whereas fruit species such as Cynadon oblonga, Armeniaca vulgare, Prunus armeniaca and species of genera Malus, though desirable from the farmer's financial viewpoint, showed low bio drainage potential. Planting herbaceous fodder crops within the inter-spaces of fodder salt tolerant trees and shrubs on intensive agro-forestry plantations could solve the animal feeding problem in the degraded (both by overgrazing and salinity) desert and semidesert marginal areas. Yield data of new varieties of sorghum and pearl millet ICBA/ICRISAT germplasm collected at the conclusion of the 2006-2007 growing seasons indicates considerable adaptability of introduced genetic material to saline soil conditions, when compared to local material. Sorghum and pearl millet crop residues utilization could be an option for bio fuel production in the region.

Expression and Localization of the Cell Adhesion Molecule SgIGSF during Regeneration of the Olfactory Epithelium in Mice

Spermatogenic immunoglobulin superfamily (SgIGSF) is a cell adhesion molecule originally discovered in mouse testis. SgIGSF is expressed not only in spermatogenic cells but also in lung and liver epithelial cells and in neurons and glia of the central and peripheral nervous systems. In the present study, we examined the expression and localization of SgIGSF in mouse olfactory epithelium before and after transection of the olfactory nerves, by RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. In normal olfactory mucosa, SgIGSF showed 100 kDa in molecular weight, which was identical with that in the lung but different from that in the brain. SgIGSF was expressed on the membrane of all olfactory, sustentacular and basal cells, but more abundantly in the apical portions of the olfactory epithelium where the dendrites of olfactory cells are in contact with sustentacular cells. After olfactory nerve transection, mature olfactory cells disappeared in 4 days but were regenerated around 7–15 days by proliferation and differentiation of basal cells into mature olfactory cells through the step of immature olfactory cells. During this period, both the mRNA and protein for SgIGSF showed a transient increase, with peak levels at 7 days and 11 days, respectively, after the transection. Immunohistochemistry showed that the enriched immunoreactivity for SgIGSF at 7–11 days was localized primarily to the membrane of immature olfactory cells. These results suggested that, during regeneration of the olfactory epithelium, the adhesion molecule SgIGSF plays physiological roles in differentiation, migration, and maturation of immature olfactory cells

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取得学位 : 博士（医学）, 学位授与番号 : 医博甲第1124号, 学位授与年月日：平成6年3月25日,学位授与年：199