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List and Explanations of Crop Types Assessed with WUEMoCA

(alphabetical order)

- All crops - Cotton - Maize - Orchard/vineyard - Other crops - Rice - Sunflower - Urban garden - Vegetable - Wheat -

Furthermore, only irrigated crops cultivated within the maximum irrigation extent in the ASB (Figure 1) are considered within the context of WUEMoCA.

All crops

Cotton

(Хлопок)

Cotton, very often referred to as the “white gold”, is one of the most important cash crops in Central Asia. The emphasis on intensive cotton cultivation in the Amudarya and Syrdarya basin countries has played a major role in the drying and polluting of the Aral Sea because of the large amounts of water and fertilizer used in cotton cultivation. The overall cotton acreage within the ASB on areas equipped for full control irrigation was 1.4 million ha in 2016 ha for all Central Asia.

Cotton as one of the most important irrigated crops in the ASB (FAO Aquastat, 2012). Cotton is the second most widespread harvested irrigated crop in the ASB and is mainly cultivated in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan amounting to approximately one third (in each of these three countries) of total harvested irrigated cropped area (FAO Aquastat, 2012)

Cotton (Gossypium) as a primary crop in large parts of the ASB

for waht is cotton cropped

cash crop

high irrigation demand

domesticated form

frost-free period, plenty of sunshine, and moderate rainfall -> hiogh irrigation demand

production of cotton for a given year usually starts soon after harvesting the preceding autumn

cotton naturally a perennial crop however grown as an annual to help control pests (...)

Planting time in spring in the norther hemisphere varies from the beginning of february to tthe beginning of June

consistent yield of cotton in CA strongly depend on irrigation withdrawn from ...

salt and drought tolerant -> attractive to be cropped in arid and semidarid regions

in Uzbekistan cotton as a major export

Uzbekistan as one of the leading cotton producer countries according to UN Foord & Agriculture Organization (55) -> 2010: 1.136.120 t, 2012: 983.400 t, 2014: 849.000 t (all 55), 2015/2016 (1): 827.000 t

Maize

Maize can be subdivided in two classes: fodder and sugar Maize. Fodder maize comprises the majority of maize within the ASB and is grown as a second crop after winter wheat. Sugar maize is more predominant in the Fergana Valley, Southern Kazakhstan and Northern Uzbekistan. Being a summer crop, it grows within a single season.

Orchard/vineyard

Other crops

Rice

Rice is predominant in the regions Khorezm (Uzbekistan), Fergana Valley (Uzbekistan) and Kyzylorda (Kazakhstan). Rice generally has very high irrigation water requirements reaching to 13 megaliters per ha for a growing season. The overall rice acreage within the ASB on areas equipped for full control irrigation was 0.6 million ha in 2016.

Sunflower

Sunflower crops are used mainly for fodder and as oil crops. It grows as a second crop after winter wheat. Sunflower crops account for just about 1.2 % of the overall irrigation area in the ASB.

Urban garden

Urban gardens account for a significant area of periphery urban areas and rural village agriculture. The majority of the urban gardens are used for subsistence agriculture growing a variety of different crops. The category exists in WUEMoCA because of the significant consumption and different distribution of irrigation water.

Vegetable

(Fruits and vegetables)

This category comprises potatoes, cucurbits, sugar beets, tomatoes and beans (mostly green gram). Because of the complexity of the land use and the coarse resolution of the satellite sensor (MODIS), the actual discrimination of groundcover crops is sometimes not possible. Therefore, groundcover fruits such as melons and strawberries are classified within this category.

Wheat

References

FAO Aquastat (2012)

1) US Department of Agriculture. n.d. Cotton production by country worldwide in 2015/2016 (in 1,000 metric tons). Statista. Accessed 20 January, 2017. Available from https://www.statista.com/statistics/263055/cotton-production-worldwide-by-top-countries/.

55)

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