Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At a recent meeting, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that the third goal of his election program is saving water resources and protecting the environment.

By 2030, in order to fully transfer cultivated areas to water-saving technologies, facilities supplying water to fields will be transferred to the management of farmers and clusters;

The experience of such countries as Turkey, Spain, China will be widely introduced into the water supply system;

Farmers and farmers who have introduced water-saving technologies will be further encouraged.

On 27-31 May 2023, a group of women working in the water management system and a group of women farmers visited several farms in Ferghana, Andijan and Namangan regions to get acquainted with the results of the introduction of water-saving technologies and adaptation to climate change.

The group included women working in water management organizations who were trained to be trainers in such issues like the role of leadership in women’s economic empowerment; climate change and gender issues; ways to communicate effectively and manage time; business planning and ways to improve financial literacy; concessional loans, government subsidies and other incentives available for the introduction of water-saving technologies and preparation of a correct application for their receipt. As a result, they acquired the skills of independently conducting trainings on the above topics for their colleagues, women farmers and rural women.

The second part of the group are women farmers who, in the course of participating in various gender-oriented activities of the project, learned a lot about water-saving technologies and the benefits of their use in growing various crops. As a result, they decided to introduce one of the types of innovative technologies in their farming. It’s not easy, and it’s not cheap. A woman, in order to decide on such a step, needs to see everything with her own eyes, feel it with her hands and hear firsthand what the difficulties were and how they can be overcome.

Thus, another goal of this study tour was to further disseminate practical experience on the use of water saving technologies on farms and household plots, as well as familiarize themselves with the possibilities of adaptation to climate change.

As part of the study visit, a group of women visited the Maftuna Nurli Kelajak farm under the leadership of Sanobar Gafurova in Oltiaryk district of Ferghana region. This is a diversified family farm, which is engaged in the cultivation of cotton and wheat, and animal husbandry. The hostess proudly showed the greenhouse and the orchard with drip irrigation installed, and said that the fruits grown in the farm’s garden are exported.

An interesting meeting took place at the Sherali kizi Zhumagul farm in Namangan region, whose head Sayora Urinbayeva installed a drip irrigation system. In 2022, Urinbayeva Sayora became a participant in the TSA installation competition, which was held among women farmers to provide practical support to women farmers who plan to introduce water-saving irrigation systems in their farm field. Becoming the winner of the competition, she was awarded a transformer. This competition among women farmers, aimed at obtaining support for the introduction of water-saving irrigation technologies, was held by the Project jointly with the Ministry of Water Resources in early 2022.

Acquaintance with the Modern Green House in the Andijan region made a great impression on the guests. This farm is engaged in Cultivation of export crops (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, iceberg) using the “NET HOUSE” method. All plants are watered with drip irrigation and grown in mesh tents. The berries grown in such a farm have a high added value and they are all in great demand on the world market.

This study tour provided the participants with the opportunity to get the necessary information about how women farmers started their business, what difficulties they encountered during the establishment of the business, how the process of introducing and using the water saving technologies went. The participants saw in practice the advantages/difficulties of using the water saving technologies, and also learned what results can be achieved by promoting the principles of IWRM.

During the study visit, the women shared how the training has changed their perception of climate change issues and how they are participating in mitigation processes in families, communities, workplaces, etc. It is expected that this activity will also help them understand the important role women on climate change issues and advocate for the reduction of carbon emissions.

A visit to the Namangan Flowers-2023 International Flower Festival was a beautiful and very pleasant end to the study trip.