On the way from Tashkent to the pistachio project in the Jizzakh region, an unexpected and pleasant gift awaited us. The Beijing-Paris run went the same route. It was a run of vintage cars, and we were able to see almost all of them to our heart's content. Great cars from all over the world. Our car also lit up next to them. See interesting photos. Well, it's a distraction. And now about our project.
The pistachio planting project is one of the most significant projects of the PMGEF in Uzbekistan. As you probably know from our previous news, in arid areas, where due to lack of water and abundance of heat, the ecosystem is already very fragile, any human intervention, especially unsustainable livestock management, has a very destructive effect. Planting a forest is one of the most effective alternatives. Where there is a forest, there is more moisture in the soil, which means there is more feed for livestock. The forest is a source of income for people, and if it is a pistachio forest, then this income is very good.
Photo by Lucian Nikolai
The PMGEF plans to plant as much forest as possible in the country. One of the goals is to plant as many pistachios as possible in Uzbekistan. Why? Because we have simply ideal conditions in many areas for growing pistachios. Therefore, the population of Jizzakh, Navoi, Tashkent, Samarkand, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya regions and the entire Ferghana Valley have a good opportunity to use a new source of income. A lot of people can provide their livelihoods at the expense of forest products. Pistachio grows well in arid foothill and mountainous areas, at an altitude of 500 to 2200 m. It does not require water - it can get it by itself. You just need to help a little to allow the forest to take root.
The PMGEF is doing its best to help spread this practice. At the moment, the project is almost completed only in the Jizzakh region. Committee members were able to verify on the spot what had been done. We want similar projects to take place in other areas as well. We hope that the project application for pistachio from the Kashkadarya region will be finalized in the near future. But where are the others? We are waiting for other areas.
The project has almost finished finalizing the instructions for planting pistachios. Now it remains only to insert the part on pistachio diseases. You can find the preview here. But in the near future the instruction will be completed and published in Russian and Uzbek. The instruction will be posted for free use on our website, distributed to mahallas, district khokimiyats, farmers' associations, institutes and universities. Anyone can take the instructions, read them, and if they wish, start planting pistachios.
At the end of August, a seminar was held for farmers of the Jizzakh region and forestry workers, where all participants could learn a lot of interesting things about pistachios. Read the article about the workshop here.
Currently, work is being completed on instructions for creating pistachio plantations. In addition, an important output of the project will be a cost-benefit analysis of pistachio planting. This is an economic analysis and all the work is carried out by NNO KRASS, our good partner. NNO KRASS brought together a number of excellent professionals who received excellent education in the field of sustainable agriculture (read about the seminar held by NNO KRASS in the Ferghana Valley). The prepared economic analysis will also be available to the reader of our site in a short time.
After getting acquainted with the work of the project, the members of the committee were welcomed by the head of the project, BastamkulSaidkulov, and we moved on. To the next destination - a project that starts in Samarkand.
