| Water Management |
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| Wednesday, 24 December 2008 10:10 |
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During 2005-2006 the ELS project in
Namangan supported the development of small agribusiness improved
farming and business technologies by promoting improved
cattle-breeding, biological pest control and demonstration of small
drip irrigation techniques in the three project districts of Chartak,
Kasansai and Mingbulok.
The Enhancement of Living Standards (ELS)
project in Karakalpakstan and Namangan region in Uzbekistan, operating
since 2005, is a joint effort by the European Union and UNDP. The
income generation and diversification component of the project works to
improve and promote income generation and diversification techniques,
job creation, financing for rural and urban micro-credit schemes and
promotion of agricultural co-operatives.  During
2005-2006 the ELS project in Namangan supported the development of
small agribusiness improved farming and business technologies by
promoting improved cattle-breeding, biological pest control and
demonstration of small drip irrigation techniques in the three project
districts of Chartak, Kasansai and Mingbulok The support was
complemented by study tours and exchange of experience in country and
abroad.To enhance understanding of the
benefits accruing from integrated rural development and improved water
management, the ELS project engaged a team of national and
international consultants to work directly with farmers. The team headed by an EU expert,
first assessed the viability of traditional and local on-farm
irrigation techniques and then conducted a number of workshops and
demonstrations with farmers and local authorities on the benefits of
drip irrigation techniques. Farmers in Namangan were able to see with
their own eyes how drip irrigation works and understand how to
replicate and adapt this technology to meet their needs in Namangan
region. A tool kit was prepared and translated by the project into
Uzbek and Russian. Other successful demonstrations of
cost effective, replicable low cost technologies included demonstration
and assembling of household hydraulic ram pumps (particularly cost
effective for small scale back-yard irrigation in remote communities in
highland valleys) and an experimental household hydro-electric
generator. Local partners such AgrovodoKanal showed great commitment by
replicating the pumps, organizing the demonstration sites and
mobilizing interested farmers. The ELS project would like to thank the UNDP-GEF project Establishment of Nuratau Kyzyl-Kum Biosphere Reserve as a Model for Conservation in Uzbekistan
in Djizzak-Samarkan and Navoy regions which shared its experience of
locally produced hydraulic ram pumps and made it possible for the ELS
project to show the pumps to interested farmers in Namangan region. |
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