Agricultural Development in Uzbekistan: Agricultural Reforms versus Transboundary Water Issues

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the basic and vital sectors of the national economy of Uzbekistan. From the historical background, in the harsh context of progressively growing number of population and specialization of domestic production for cotton monoculture, economic crisis in the early years of independence revealed the need for extending the horizon of agriculture after facing the difficulties in providing the population and industries with necessary agricultural products. Therefore, government pays great attention to agricultural development and continuously has been taking measures for further strengthening and enhancing the efficiency of agricultural sector. In turn, development in agricultural sector have faced several challenges in water use for irrigation, climate change, desertification and deforestation due to transboundary rivers shared among all five states of Central Asia. Attempts to electricity generation growth, diversified agricultural policy and its orientation have been radically changing the regional climate by breaking the terms and conditions of agreements on joint water allocation among neighboring states. Efficiency and impact analysis serve as the core research methods for proposing relevant recommendations and possible solutions for further improvement of agricultural system development based on research findings and drawn conclusions.