Quite by accident, I was invited to one of the zero-tech workshops. This seminar was devoted to the results of the ICARDA and FAO project. I went there to meet with one of the scientists to talk about the possibilities of crop rotation for conventionally irrigated and rainfed lands. We are currently developing such a project in the Jizzakh region.

I never cease to be amazed that there is always a lot of new and interesting things to learn. Our team would seem to be very familiar with zero-processing technology. We had our own project, there were articles and lessons learned. But you still learn something new. But the most important thing is that this new thing can and should always be transferred to us, to Uzbekistan, and to do something useful for this land.

From the seminar I learned a few good things that I wanted to promote widely in Uzbekistan.

First, I was convinced once again that for our arid conditions, conditions of water value and the impossibility of farming without irrigation, conditions of limited fertile soils, the only way out is to transfer agriculture to soil-protective agriculture. Only in this way will we be able to preserve and increase the harvests from our limited amount of land. This technology preserves the soil, making it more fertile, which means we will get higher yields. Zero treatment conserves water, which means we can use the saved water for other alternative production or uses (including ecological ones like just letting water flow into the sea). An important point is that the population of the country is growing, and the same amount of land remains. Those. every year we have a reduction in the size of the available land per capita. Those. the productive land that should feed the population is shrinking. The population is growing, the land is the same. This means that it should produce more crop units per unit area. But what if its fertility and quality are constantly falling? To prevent collapse in the future, you need to start investing in soil quality now, without wasting a single year. Therefore, the PMGEFwill continue to actively work in this direction.

The second important factor for the transition to soil conservation technology, which is becoming more evident - this technology significantly saves fuel resources. We now have diesel fuel that is very expensive and is not available when it is needed for agricultural operations. An interesting diagram was presented at the seminar - the relationship between the rise in fuel prices and the rise in grain prices in Kazakhstan. I do not know the numbers for Uzbekistan, but the diagram is very interesting for its simplicity and visualization of the general situation. See how fuel prices have risen (red line) and how grain prices have risen (blue line).

Is the difference noticeable? And with zero, direct seeding, the reduction in fuel consumption, depending on the crop, is from 30 to 60%. Land cultivation operations are reduced, fuel costs, labor costs, irrigation costs, and other operations are reduced. Even with a slight decrease in yield in the first years compared to traditional tillage (until the soil structure is restored by natural processes), the profitability of no-till is 20-40% higher than with traditional one, within the margin of error. The zero-treatment effect becomes noticeable after 5 years of continuous use. And that's when the improved soil quality comes into play, and therefore higher yields. And then the profitability will be even higher.

Now this technology is starting to be used everywhere. But for some reason, it will not start to develop well in Uzbekistan. It’s just very hard to abandon the psychology that the land must be plowed in order to achieve the harvest. It doesn't need to be plowed. This is unnatural. In Kazakhstan, the government gives an additional $ 6 per hectare to those farmers who start using conservation agriculture.

Equipment availability is an important factor in technology diffusion. Zero-seeding (direct) seeders cost from 40 to 500 thousand dollars from large producers. But here's what I learned at the seminar - in Syria and Iraq, local producers began to produce in simple workshops such seeders, which cost several times less for sale - from 2.5 to 10 thousand dollars. And they work great. Why not do the same in our country? I heard that the Kashkadarya Institute of Grain Growing and the NGO KRASS are doing experiments on their own assembly of such seeders. The GEF SGP is ready to help develop the local production of such seeders.

Another very logical and beautiful idea that I learned about at the seminar was the idea of alley cropping, or alley farming. In Uzbekistan, I saw this on personal plots, but did not attach much importance to the fact that this was possible for large farms. And the idea is excellent and somewhere akin to the idea of shelterbelts, which we also try to promote everywhere and will support.

Alley farming in the original meant a method of planting crops between rows of ozoto-fixing trees or a bush ov. Trees or shrubs pulled nutrients from deep soil layers and bound nitrogen in the surface layers of the soil, improving its quality and providing the necessary elements for crops planted in the aisle.

But there is one more very good feature of this kind of technology. In our arid conditions, applying this technology on rainfed lands, we will be able to get more crops, because rows of shrubs or trees will act as field protection belts, reducing wind speed, reducing evaporation from the soil surface, retaining more moisture in the soil, which means this technology will contribute to better growing conditions for crops. In addition, the bush strips can also serve as a natural fence for post-harvest livestock grazing, as shown in the picture above. There are many benefits.

Now the PMGEF will actively study this technology and advertise its application in our country. We will support both conservation agriculture and alley farming projects. Although in the world these are two interconnected technologies.

We appeal to all farmers, or friends of farmers who can convey this information to them - go for it, contact us. Let's make the lands of Uzbekistan more fertile.