23/11/2009With just 7% of Tajikistan’s land being suitable for agriculture soil erosion represents a major threat to soil and water resources needed for sustainable development of agricultural production. Through the TC project (Assessment of Soil Erosion and Sedimentation for Land Use, 2005-2008), fallout radionuclides have been effectively used to show that strip cropping, mulching, gabion construction, gully rehabilitation, plantation of shrubs and trees, wind break poplar plantation, pasture rotation approaches and technologies can reduce soil erosion rate from 150 t/ha to 8-15 t/ha/ year in Tajikistan.  With this success, IAEA is now assisting Tajikistan in investigating sustainable land management strategies for the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (PALM) with the major funding contribution from the Global Environment Fund (GEF).