A practical seminar on effective water resources management in irrigated agriculture was held in Lebap velayat on October 17-18.

The seminar was held by the UNDP project “Conservation and Sustainable Management of High-Value Land Resources and Ecosystems in the Aral Sea Basin for Multiple Benefits”, implemented jointly with the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Participants exchanged experiences and knowledge on water use planning in the context of climate change.

Representatives of the Seyitnazar Seydi Pedagogical Institute presented presentations on rice cultivation in the Lebap velayat, taking into account soil and climatic conditions, as well as on the methodology for using groundwater on the Amu Darya River coast for drip irrigation.

Participants also discussed the prospects for the development of fish farming as an alternative source of income for the region.

The practical part of the seminar was held on-site. In particular, the work of wells previously installed by the UNDP project for monitoring the melioration state of irrigated lands and a new irrigation technology for ensuring rational sprinkler irrigation were demonstrated at a demonstration site in the Danev etrap.

Part of the practical seminar was a trip to the inter-farm canal “Berzen”, where the integrated approach of the water accounting and water distribution system of the Basin Water Organization (BVO) “Amu Darya” is implemented at the water distribution unit.

The seminar was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan, the State Committee for Water Management of Turkmenistan, the Lebap velayat hyakimlik, the Dashoguz branch of the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, the Amu Darya BVO, local NGOs, and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan, according to a UNDP press release.