23.05.2023
ZALF scientists – Prof. Katharina Helming, Dr. Ahmad Hamidov, Shakhnoza Abulkosimova – participated in the kick-off meeting of a new joint research project SusWEF (Sustainable water-saving irrigation technologies for achieving water, energy and food security in the context of climate change in Uzbekistan). The meeting took place during 27-28 April 2023 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The project will provide scientific support to the implementation of advanced water- and energy-saving irrigation technologies (e.g. drip and sprinkler irrigation) in Uzbekistan. It plans to identify constraints and barriers for adopting the water- and energy-saving irrigation technologies as well as to assess the effectiveness of the technology by means of estimating actual rebound effects. Ex-ante sustainability assessment will be conducted using participatory workshops to identify alternative governance and technological options. This joint project is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Agency for Innovative Development under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan. It is coordinated by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) and will be implemented in cooperation with partners in Uzbekistan (“Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers” National Research University, International Water Management Institute-Central Asia office, SMART InnoTech LLC). On the first day, the project deliverables, potential risks and obstacles, expected publications, and works to be done by project partners were discussed. Two pilot study areas were identified: Amu-Bukhara and Amu-Kashkadarya Basin Irrigation System Authorities. Moreover, the SusWEF project website was officially launched: https://comm.zalf.de/sites/suswef-bmbf/SitePages/Home.aspx. On the second day, a field trip to Tashkent region was organized to observe and discuss the effectiveness of drip irrigation technology. The participants visited an apple orchard farm “Eco Agro Product” and cotton field of “Nodir Rufat” farm.
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