92
rable to the extension of present irrigation schemes (Francfort and Lecomte 2002 ).
Before Russian colonisation, the valley was famous for its agricultural products
such as melons, apricots, walnuts, wine and rice. Lucerne was the foundation for the
valley’s renowned horse breeding.
Russian colonisation in the nineteenth century is the starting point of radical
changes and societal upheavals in the region referred to as “Turkestan”. Turkestan,
whose boarders were not precisely defi ned during the period of the Russian Empire,
approximately comprises the current states of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The borders between these modern successors of Turkestan were established during the regime of Stalin on the basis of language and ethnicity. Today these borders are a source of confl icts and problems; as
after all, the region remains intermingled, both in ethnical and economic terms.
The driving forces behind the Russian colonisation were Russia’s rivalry with the
British Empire and its need for cotton cultivation areas. Thus, the Central Asian
agriculture was strategically relevant for the Russian Empire. From the early days
of the colonisation period, cotton played a key role as an important feedstock. A
central agrarian administration had been founded already in 1904. In the further
course of time, a cotton production programme with a state-owned and controlled
irrigation network was established. But cotton could only be successfully introduced in the Fergana Valley with the construction of railways for the transportation
of the cotton to the production centres but also with the construction of factories for
combing and pressing the cotton in large balls. From the remaining cotton grains,
oil is produced for human consumption (Jozan 2012 ). It was the converging of local
interests with those in the Russian textile production centres which led to the introduction of cotton in the Fergana Valley ( ibid ). But cotton could only be introduced
by the extension of the irrigated area, as the other land was dedicated to support the
needs of the local populations ( ibid ). Around 1910, the existing autochthone irrigation techniques could not use the waters of the Naryn and the Syrdarya which limited the extension of cotton ( ibid ). It was only in a later period with the construction
of large-scale hydraulic works that the cotton production could be extended.
The agrarian production systems were collectivised in the 1930s. At later stages,
radical changes were forced on the traditional oasis systems (Cariou 2004 ). Small
agrarian units were merged into larger ones and traditional rural village communities were broken up. Old irrigation systems were levelled, and large irrigation channels were constructed for the benefi t of a modern industrialised agricultural
production with cotton as the main product.
As a consequence, the decades-long overuse of water resources, excessive cotton
production and agrarian mismanagement have led to the drying up of the Aral Sea.
Along the Syrdarya, approximately 40 dams with a storage capacity of
37 × 10
9 m
3
, representing 89 % of its fl ow capacity, were constructed between 1950
and 1980. During those years, cotton production was the main economic sector.
Irrigation was more important than hydropower generation. The discrepancies
already existing between hydropower and irrigation demands were moderated by
the Soviet authorities (Jozan 2008 ).
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the structural problems in the water management sector were aggravated, and the diverting interests of the individual states
C. Bismuth et al.
rable to the extension of present irrigation schemes (Francfort and Lecomte 2002 ).
Before Russian colonisation, the valley was famous for its agricultural products
such as melons, apricots, walnuts, wine and rice. Lucerne was the foundation for the
valley’s renowned horse breeding.
Russian colonisation in the nineteenth century is the starting point of radical
changes and societal upheavals in the region referred to as “Turkestan”. Turkestan,
whose boarders were not precisely defi ned during the period of the Russian Empire,
approximately comprises the current states of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The borders between these modern successors of Turkestan were established during the regime of Stalin on the basis of language and ethnicity. Today these borders are a source of confl icts and problems; as
after all, the region remains intermingled, both in ethnical and economic terms.
The driving forces behind the Russian colonisation were Russia’s rivalry with the
British Empire and its need for cotton cultivation areas. Thus, the Central Asian
agriculture was strategically relevant for the Russian Empire. From the early days
of the colonisation period, cotton played a key role as an important feedstock. A
central agrarian administration had been founded already in 1904. In the further
course of time, a cotton production programme with a state-owned and controlled
irrigation network was established. But cotton could only be successfully introduced in the Fergana Valley with the construction of railways for the transportation
of the cotton to the production centres but also with the construction of factories for
combing and pressing the cotton in large balls. From the remaining cotton grains,
oil is produced for human consumption (Jozan 2012 ). It was the converging of local
interests with those in the Russian textile production centres which led to the introduction of cotton in the Fergana Valley ( ibid ). But cotton could only be introduced
by the extension of the irrigated area, as the other land was dedicated to support the
needs of the local populations ( ibid ). Around 1910, the existing autochthone irrigation techniques could not use the waters of the Naryn and the Syrdarya which limited the extension of cotton ( ibid ). It was only in a later period with the construction
of large-scale hydraulic works that the cotton production could be extended.
The agrarian production systems were collectivised in the 1930s. At later stages,
radical changes were forced on the traditional oasis systems (Cariou 2004 ). Small
agrarian units were merged into larger ones and traditional rural village communities were broken up. Old irrigation systems were levelled, and large irrigation channels were constructed for the benefi t of a modern industrialised agricultural
production with cotton as the main product.
As a consequence, the decades-long overuse of water resources, excessive cotton
production and agrarian mismanagement have led to the drying up of the Aral Sea.
Along the Syrdarya, approximately 40 dams with a storage capacity of
37 × 10
9 m
3
, representing 89 % of its fl ow capacity, were constructed between 1950
and 1980. During those years, cotton production was the main economic sector.
Irrigation was more important than hydropower generation. The discrepancies
already existing between hydropower and irrigation demands were moderated by
the Soviet authorities (Jozan 2008 ).
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the structural problems in the water management sector were aggravated, and the diverting interests of the individual states
C. Bismuth et al.