The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will launch the first technical assistance project in the water sector in Turkmenistan.
According to the newspaper “Neutral Turkmenistan”, a project presentation was held in Ashgabat recently, with the participation of FAO experts in land and water management – Carolina Starr, Ivetta Zenina and Viktor Lagutov.
The meeting, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the country, brought together experts in the field of environmental protection, agriculture and water management, finance and economy, statistical agencies, the business sector, representatives of the scientific community.
The meeting allowed to draw up a portfolio of water and land proposals that will be correlated with the priorities of FAO and identify the most priority areas of cooperation for the agro-industrial complex of Turkmenistan.
International consultant Ivetta Zenina revealed some details of the project. Here is a brief summary:
- For FAO, it is valuable to achieve and strengthen the resilience of the agricultural sector of countries to climate impacts.
- Turkmenistan has many years of experience in creating blooming oases in the immediate vicinity of the Karakum desert, a vivid example of this is the landscaped Ashgabat.
- Within the framework of the project, both ancient hydraulic techniques, the principle of operation of the collector-drainage and irrigation networks of the country’s water economy, and the “efficiency” of implemented innovations – drip irrigation, sprinkling, sprinkler method will be studied.
- The practical part of the project will focus on one of the north-western regions of the country.
- Water metering sensors will be installed on the project territory, hydraulic units of inter-farm irrigation networks will be improved, a weather station will be created, irrigation trainings will be conducted, classes in “field schools for farmers” will continue, etc.
- The environmental component of the project will cover the protection of terrestrial ecosystems and landscapes.
Representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection explained that a pilot project with a small budget and tasks will be finalized by the end of the year.
This will be followed by a one-year small project, the findings of which will be used to initiate a multi-year project in which the corresponding goals and objectives will be expanded.
In general, the project aims to increase institutional capacity for the use of environmentally sound practices in environmental management, introduce the concepts of integrated use of water resources to achieve sustainability, and increase the adaptability of agricultural production in a changing climate, which will move the country closer to the position of “zero” emissions in agriculture.
To date, Turkmenistan has already accumulated some experience in the field of rational water use. Such practices multi-stage water purification intended for drip irrigation based on the waters of the Amu Darya, automated accounting for the transportation and use of water based on GIS technologies, remote sensing of soil salinity, are already being used.///nCa, 26 July 2023
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