TURKMEN LEADERS URGED TO UPGRADE WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
ITWT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Following a United Nations
report calling for better management of water resources to
avert food shortages across Asia, analysts say Turkmenistan is
a prime example of a state heavily dependent on crumbling,
ineffective irrigation systems.
A report published on August 17 by the UN's Food and
Agriculture Organisation and the International Water Management
Institute warned that Asia faced a large rise in demand for
food, creating the risk of shortages.
Given the lack of spare land available for cultivation and
the increasingly unpredictable climate, the report concluded
that the only option was to improve the way existing water
resources were managed, for example by investing in more
efficient irrigation systems.
Turkmenistan is largely covered by desert, and agriculture
exists only by virtue of irrigation systems dating back 50 or
60 years.
Ninety-five per cent of all farmland is irrigated
artificially, using a network of canals and 15 reservoirs, not
counting the giant new man-made Altyn Asyr sea, which is
supposed to collect the excess water drained away from the
fields so that it can be recycled.
Experts say Turkmenistan's water-management systems are now
in an advanced state of dilapidation, as little maintenance
work has been done since the Soviet collapse of 1991 left it an
independent state.
"The [canal] networks don't have concrete linings, which
leads to the loss of tens of thousands of cubic metres of
water," said an observer in the northern Dashoguz region.
The water either sank into the ground or evaporated from the
surface.
Annadurdy Khajiev, a Turkmen economist based in Bulgaria,
agreed, saying: "The old irrigation canals are not up to
standard. Watercourses tend to be overgrown with reeds, and it
would take immense amounts of money to clear them. They do not
save water."
A former official from the water resources ministry blames a
lack of funding for the decrepit state of the canals. "The
agencies which used to look after the network have been closed
down and responsibility for its upkeep handed over to local
government a retrograde step for a system that requires
centralised management," he said.
Commentators say irresponsible use of water by farmers,
combined with obsolete irrigation methods, means a great deal
of water goes to waste. They say the authorities should be
looking at new irrigation methods so as to keep crop production
up.
"Why don't farms use the drip irrigation methods, or pipes
with pumps installed on them, or concrete-lined canals?" asked
Khajiev.
Apparently ignoring the situation, the Turkmen government
now plans to increase production of grain and cotton, the
latter a particularly thirsty crop. Around a million tons of
each is produced every year.
(TCA) rw
For full details on (ITWT) ITWT. (ITWT) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (ITWT) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
- IWG Delivers its 2000th Unit to Dassault Falcon - 12/21/09
- IET-Aquaresearch Ltd: Bacta-Pur(R) Improves Life Quality in Pakistan - 11/11/09
- November 7 Creativity Prize Attributed to DR Bellachhab Chahbani [column] - 11/09/09
- INTERNATIONAL WATER POLO TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN AZERBAIJAN - 11/04/09
- Jordan to host 6th International Water Association Conference - 10/29/09
- More News >>
