Why Uzbekistan is hoping gravity will help solve its irrigation issues

Uzbekistan is modernising its regional irrigation system to improve water supply to the agricultural sector.

In South Karakalpakstan, gravity is now being used instead of electric pumps to irrigate the fields. A recent major infrastructure project is also drastically reducing the loss of a major resource - water.

The Bustan Canal is a major water artery. Before its reconstruction, it was an earthen canal, and seepage was a major problem.

"You can see yourself: here are dunes and sands. Around 50% of the water went into the soil," said project manager Azat Serjanov. "Therefore, we decided to concrete the canal."

Water enters through the Right Bank Canal from the Tuyamuyun reservoir, which is located on the territory of neighbouring Turkmenistan.

The Bustan Canal is connected by a network of secondary canals. Their total length is more than 800 kilometres, and they've all been reconstructed as part of a project which covers three regions and 100 hectares of agricultural land.

"Here we felt an acute shortage of water resources. 35,000 hectares of irrigated land have been taken out of circulation," revealed Shavkat Khamrayev, the Republic of Uzbekistan's minister of water resources.

"We concrete canals, reduce seepage losses, increase the efficiency of irrigation systems, and save about 300 million cubic meters of water by reducing losses and putting these agricultural lands back into circulation."

To reduce water losses, the bottom, as well as the banks of the 70 kilometres-long Bustan Canal, were concreted. Concrete was placed on geomembrane, a special material that helps minimise water seepage.

“The geomembrane is made of high-density polyethylene. It's 1mm thick and 100% waterproof," explained project engineer, Bahodir