Living Land

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Image: Dr K. Ikazaki

Sandstorm, a cause of wind erosion

established the Irrigated Land Reclamation Fund and

started a state programme to allocate funds for the construc-

tion or reconstruction of related facilities, repair works,

purchase of machinery and equipment and water-saving

technologies. While these activities work well in reduc-

ing salinization, the continued use of excessive amounts

of irrigation water in actual farmlands expose them to

greater risk of salinization and rising groundwater levels.

This farming activity renders the desalinization measures

ineffective. Therefore, JIRCAS started a research project

which was supported by the Government and the Farmers’

Council (FC) of Uzbekistan. It was focused on farmers’

understanding of salinization and what countermeasures

can be applied. Studies and experiments have been imple-

mented to improve the technical aspects and to verify the

effects of the measures on actual farmers’ fields in Syr-darya

province, where the salinity-affected area is large.

As a result of the project, a guideline

titled ‘On-farm miti-

gation measures against salinization under high groundwater

level conditions’ was published in February 2013. The guide-

line was translated into Russian and Uzbek languages, with a

simplified popular version in addition to the original one. It

explains intelligibly to farmers the following topics: under-

standing salinization; monitoring salinization; water-saving

irrigation; low-cost land levelling; drainage maintenance;

crop rotation; and trial calculation of financial conditions.

The first topic describes the mechanism and classification of

salinization. The second discusses the necessity of monitor-

ing groundwater, the farmers’ monitoring method and the

results of monitoring in the field. The third shows the modi-

fied furrow irrigation methods and their effects. The fourth

explains the necessity of land levelling and the farmers’

efforts in pre-levelling work. The fifth points out the impor-

tance of drainage maintenance and the farmers’ role in the

maintenance of drainage facilities. The sixth enumerates the

summer crops to be cultivated to generate funds for the miti-

gation measures, as well as the green manure crops for soil

fertility improvement. The last topic presents a trial calcula-

tion for the costs and benefits of introducing each measure.

The guideline has been disseminated by the FC in relevant

seminars in Uzbekistan.

Currently, JIRCAS is working on the establishment of

methodologies for efficient groundwater control, such as

improving of the management of surplus infiltration water

and monitoring soil and groundwater levels to estimate the

introduced methodology.

Improving soil fertility in the Sahel

The Sahel of West Africa, the southern periphery of the

Sahara desert, is the most marginal land for agricultural

production in the world. The soils are very sandy and

infertile and the land is frequently afflicted by devastat-

ing droughts, pests and diseases. Indigenous systems, like

corralling and fallowing, were for a long time sufficient

iving

and