CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Uzbekistan comprises the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan and twelve oblasts (regions).

Figure 1: Dominant soil map of Uzbekistan

The total land area of Uzbekistan amounts to 44.9 million ha of which 4.3 million ha are irrigated, 3.3 million ha being irrigated arable land (Table 1) and one million ha being irrigated pasture. The irrigated land is of paramount significance for the agriculture and economy of the country. The permanent pasture area amounts to 23.5 million ha accounting for over 80 percent of all agricultural land.

Table 1
Distribution of irrigated arable land in Uzbekistan ('000 ha)

Source: State Committee for Land Resources (SCLR), 2002.

In Uzbekistan, the rainfed area covers more than 747 thousand ha with rainfall exceeding 200 mm per year, yielding between 0.8 and 2.0 tonnes of grain per hectare. However, in view of their extent, these areas play an important role in grain production (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Agricultural area

Cotton production has fallen. Prior to independence the monoculture of the crop has led to problems of land degradation, especially from salinization and waterlogging. However, cereal production has increased substantially. During the past three years alone, the area under cereals, especially wheat, has been extended by more than 300 thousand ha, to reach more than one million ha in 2001. Cereal production has reached 3.5 million tonnes and the importation of the food grain has been reduced more than six-fold.

Figure 3: Cotton and wheat production, 1992 to 2002

The average crop production capacity of pastureland is only 0.2 tonnes cereal equivalent per ha but this land provides 60 percent of livestock forage.

The agricultural areas are situated in the basin of the Aral Sea and on the extensive plains and foothills. Most of the land is exceptionally well suited to mechanical cultivation and the prevailing temperatures permit the cultivation of a large variety of vegetables, fruits and berries, cereals and cash crops, including medium-fibre cotton. In the south the valuable fine-fibre varieties of cotton are grown.

Each year 25 000 ha of new irrigated land is brought into cultivation and more than 45 000 ha of old irrigated arable land reclaimed.

Agricultural structure

In Uzbekistan there are 1 389 collective (kolkhoz) farms, 872 cooperative farms, 21 675 dekhan or family-owned farms and 1 895 private farms. Agriculture accounts for 26 percent of the country's GDP and employs more than a third of the population.

Since the independence of Uzbekistan, a number of laws and decrees have been issued in order to establish a legal framework for the establishment of mixed economy enterprises, businesses, farms and private domestic plots. The farms include 'shirkat' cooperative farms and 'dekhan' family farms. The land is on long-term lease from the state. The 'dekhan' farms account for more than 60 percent of agricultural production. Land allocation to farmers is shown in Table 2.

Table 2
Land allocated to farmers ('000 ha)

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 'Land, Water, Fertilizer', 1996.

The social structure of agriculture has changed fundamentally. Today the public sector accounts for less than 2 percent of the total. The economic independence of agricultural enterprises has been extended. There have been several other structural changes in agriculture. For example, the cotton monopoly inherited from the former centrally controlled Soviet system and so-called all-union division of labor, have been abolished. During the Soviet period, Uzbekistan was mostly oriented towards the production of cotton for the textile and military industries of the Soviet Union. After independence Uzbekistan reduced cotton production by expanding production of grain, vegetables and other crops, which previously did not satisfy domestic requirements.

By 2001, 8 259 farms had been established on an area of 190 000 ha (Table 3).

Table 3
Types and numbers of private farms

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 'Land, Water, Fertilizer', 1996.

Figure 4: Number of different types of farms