A pilot project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on technical assistance in the water sector will be launched in Turkmenistan.

As reports newscentralasia.net with reference to the “Neutral Turkmenistan” newspaper, a presentation of the project was recently held in Ashgabat with the participation of FAO specialists in the field of land and water use - Carolina Starr, Yvette Zenina and Victor Lagutov.

According to international experts, the project will study both ancient folk hydraulic techniques, the principle of operation of the collector-drainage and irrigation networks of the country's water management, and the “efficiency” of the introduced innovations - drip irrigation, sprinkling, sprinkler method.

The practical part of the project will focus on one of the northwestern regions of the country. Water metering sensors will be installed here, hydroelectric facilities of inter-farm irrigation networks will be improved, and a meteorological station will be created. Within the framework of the project, trainings on irrigation will be conducted, classes in “field schools for farmers” and other activities will be continued.

Representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection explained that a pilot project with a small budget and tasks is being formed, which will be ready before the end of the year. This will be followed by a one-year small project, as a result of which it is planned to launch a multi-year project, where the affected goals and objectives will be expanded, and the potential and opportunities will be increased accordingly.

To date, Turkmenistan has already accumulated certain experience in the field of rational water use, including the use of advanced practices. Among the developments: methods of multi-stage purification of water intended for drip irrigation based on the waters of the Amu Darya, automated accounting for the transportation and use of water based on GIS technologies, remote sensing of soil salinity, the source notes.