116
following Uzbekistan’s independence; and, third, the constraints of operating a
system that is presently heavily dependent on good relations with neighbourly and
favourable global market conditions.
9.2 Salient Features of Fergana’s Irrigation System
Among the six major Asian river basins – Brahmaputra, Indus, Ganges, Mekong,
Amudarya – the Syrdarya with a catchment of 402,760 km
2 with a mean annual fl ow
of 39 km
3 is by far the smallest, but with operational challenges in maintenance and
constraints similar to the others (Savoskul and Smakhtin 2013 , p. 2). During the last
half century, the fl ow characteristics of the Syrdarya have signifi cantly changed:
snowmelt contribution decreased by one-fi fth, while the share of glacier runoff
increased. Various calculations suggest a marginal impact on future annual water
fl ows and quantities available, but changes to seasonal irrigation water availability
with less water in spring and summer and higher shares in autumn and winter
(Savoskul and Smakhtin 2013 , p. vii, 35). Such a shift will detrimentally affect the
cultivation patterns that depend on summer cultivation and winter fl ooding for
drainage.
A century ago the Fergana Valley (Fig. 9.2 ) constituted one-third of all irrigated
lands in the territories that are now Uzbekistan and provided nearly two-thirds of all
Central Asian cotton for the Russian textile industry (Pierce 1960 , p. 169; Thurman
1999 , pp. 11–12).
2 The expansion of cultivated land has been substantial: in 1930
the irrigated land in Fergana accounted for 530,000 ha and was increased to
650,000 ha by 1950. In the post-Stalin era, a major boost during the Virgin Lands
Campaign and subsequent developments led to an irrigated area of 1.5 million ha by
2005. The share of Uzbek Fergana alone doubled between 1924 and 1985 to
800,000 ha (Bichsel and Mukhabbatov 2011 , p. 254; Wegerich et al. 2012 , p. 550).
3
While the share of cotton was only 9.6 % in the Fergana Oblast’ in 1885, it increased
to 42.0 % by the end of the Tsarist rule. Within the Fergana Districts of the
Uzbekistan Socialist Soviet Republic, its share was more than three quarters in 1930
and fell to 62.3 % by the end of the Soviet rule (Bichsel 2009 , p. 17). Overall,
Fergana mirrors the trend in cotton production which itself seems to have been
defi ned as the backbone of Soviet agrarian science and proof of technological development. For the time between 1913 and 1990, Uzbekistan’s record contains a fourfold expansion in the area of cotton cultivation, an increase in output by a factor of
ten, and the yield per hectare rose from 1.2 to 2.8 t/ha (Spoor 2007 , pp. 58–59). In
contrast, wheat production decreased during the Soviet period. Emphasis was put
2 By the turn to the twentieth century, the Russian textile industry imported 36 % of its raw cotton
from the three Central Asian cultivation areas in Bukhara, Fergana, and Khiva (Joffe 1995 , p. 369).
3 For the earlier periods a growth in irrigated lands took place in Fergana Oblast from 593,246 ha
in 1885 to 833,850 ha in 1916; during the transition a decrease to 322,640 ha from a share of
42.0–5.7 % of cotton cultivation occurred until 1922, and a subsequent recovery with high growth
rates was on record (Thurman 1999 , pp. 264–265).
H. Kreutzmann
following Uzbekistan’s independence; and, third, the constraints of operating a
system that is presently heavily dependent on good relations with neighbourly and
favourable global market conditions.
9.2 Salient Features of Fergana’s Irrigation System
Among the six major Asian river basins – Brahmaputra, Indus, Ganges, Mekong,
Amudarya – the Syrdarya with a catchment of 402,760 km
2 with a mean annual fl ow
of 39 km
3 is by far the smallest, but with operational challenges in maintenance and
constraints similar to the others (Savoskul and Smakhtin 2013 , p. 2). During the last
half century, the fl ow characteristics of the Syrdarya have signifi cantly changed:
snowmelt contribution decreased by one-fi fth, while the share of glacier runoff
increased. Various calculations suggest a marginal impact on future annual water
fl ows and quantities available, but changes to seasonal irrigation water availability
with less water in spring and summer and higher shares in autumn and winter
(Savoskul and Smakhtin 2013 , p. vii, 35). Such a shift will detrimentally affect the
cultivation patterns that depend on summer cultivation and winter fl ooding for
drainage.
A century ago the Fergana Valley (Fig. 9.2 ) constituted one-third of all irrigated
lands in the territories that are now Uzbekistan and provided nearly two-thirds of all
Central Asian cotton for the Russian textile industry (Pierce 1960 , p. 169; Thurman
1999 , pp. 11–12).
2 The expansion of cultivated land has been substantial: in 1930
the irrigated land in Fergana accounted for 530,000 ha and was increased to
650,000 ha by 1950. In the post-Stalin era, a major boost during the Virgin Lands
Campaign and subsequent developments led to an irrigated area of 1.5 million ha by
2005. The share of Uzbek Fergana alone doubled between 1924 and 1985 to
800,000 ha (Bichsel and Mukhabbatov 2011 , p. 254; Wegerich et al. 2012 , p. 550).
3
While the share of cotton was only 9.6 % in the Fergana Oblast’ in 1885, it increased
to 42.0 % by the end of the Tsarist rule. Within the Fergana Districts of the
Uzbekistan Socialist Soviet Republic, its share was more than three quarters in 1930
and fell to 62.3 % by the end of the Soviet rule (Bichsel 2009 , p. 17). Overall,
Fergana mirrors the trend in cotton production which itself seems to have been
defi ned as the backbone of Soviet agrarian science and proof of technological development. For the time between 1913 and 1990, Uzbekistan’s record contains a fourfold expansion in the area of cotton cultivation, an increase in output by a factor of
ten, and the yield per hectare rose from 1.2 to 2.8 t/ha (Spoor 2007 , pp. 58–59). In
contrast, wheat production decreased during the Soviet period. Emphasis was put
2 By the turn to the twentieth century, the Russian textile industry imported 36 % of its raw cotton
from the three Central Asian cultivation areas in Bukhara, Fergana, and Khiva (Joffe 1995 , p. 369).
3 For the earlier periods a growth in irrigated lands took place in Fergana Oblast from 593,246 ha
in 1885 to 833,850 ha in 1916; during the transition a decrease to 322,640 ha from a share of
42.0–5.7 % of cotton cultivation occurred until 1922, and a subsequent recovery with high growth
rates was on record (Thurman 1999 , pp. 264–265).
H. Kreutzmann