Journal of Critical Reviews

ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 5, 2020

Review Article

CONDITION OF IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE SYSTEMS IN THE KHOREZM REGION

AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT
1Bakhtiyar Matyakubov, 2Ilkhom Begmatov, 3Adham Mamataliev, 3Shavkat Botirov, 4Makhbuba
Khayitova
1Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Irrigation and Melioration, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural
Mechanization Engineers, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
2Professor, Head of the Department of Irrigation and Melioration, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural

Mechanization Engineers, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers,
Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
3Associate Professor, Department of Irrigation and Melioration, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization

Engineers, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

4Assistant, Department of Irrigation and Melioration, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization

Engineers, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

E-mail address: [email protected]

Received: 22.01.2020 Revised: 15.02.2020 Accepted: 22.03.2020

Abstract
This article provides information on the state of irrigation and drainage systems, the main types of groundwater regime, changes in the
dynamics of the groundwater level, as well as changes in their salinity in the Khorezm region. The data on the distribution of land by
salinity, the change in the total length of drainage systems on irrigated lands of the Khorezm region of the Republic of Uzbekistan are
given. Recommendations are given for improving the passage of drainage water from irrigated areas. A set of organizational, land
reclamation, land reclamation, and operational measures aimed at improving the technical and land reclamation condition of irrigated
lands by improving the performance of irrigation and land reclamation systems has been substantiated. Rational methods of irrigation of
crops in the Khorezm region are given.

Keywords: irrigation, drainage, regime, groundwater, salinization.

© 2019 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.05.86

INTRODUCTION irrigation techniques, especially reclamation of irrigated land [2-

In practice, one of the main operational problems is the cases of 4].
prolonged operation of the pumps with greatly increased
compared to the design hydraulic losses in the suction line and METHODS AND MATERIALS
mechanical damage to individual elements due to cavitation- In the study, state of irrigation and drainage systems, indicators
abrasive wear[1]. of performance indicators were used [5]. The indicators cover
water supply, water use efficiency, maintenance, irrigation
Currently, there is a shortage of water in the world, including the sustainability, environmental aspects, socio-economic situation
Republic of Uzbekistan. If we analyze the last 60 years, the and management.
consumption of drinking water in our planet has increased by 8
times. Therefore, it is necessary to use irrigation water according Important points of emerge that there was no steady or linear
to the needs of plants for water using water-saving irrigation progression in techniques across time - instances of the transfer
technologies. In this case, the reclamation state of the land will be of ideas are balanced by cases of independent development - and
improved by reducing the groundwater level of the irrigated that the correlations between irrigation systems structures
area. demand more complex explanations than often proposed.
According to the International Commission on Irrigation and Moreover, using the MASSCOTE technique (this is the search for
Drainage, the area of irrigated land in the world is about 299.488 a solution to improve irrigation management and operation and
million hectares. About 40 percent of world food and 60 percent better user service) [6]. The necessary materials were taken from
of grain crops are produced on these irrigated lands [1]. annual reports of the Regional Department of Water
Management of the Khorezm Region also irrigation and drainage
In the Strategy of Action for Five Priority Directions of the expedition [7, 8].
Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021,
approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Khorezm region is located in the northwestern part of the
Uzbekistan dated February 7, 2017 № UP-4947 and “On the State Republic of Uzbekistan and occupies part of the territory of the
Program for the Development of Irrigation and Improvement of left-bank delta of the Amu Darya.
the Reclamation Condition of Irrigated Lands” for the period
2018-2019 approved by the Decree of the President of the The Khorezm region borders: from the north and north-eastern
Republic of Uzbekistan dated February 27, 2017 № UP-3405, part with the Amu Darya River and the Republic of
special attention is paid to further improving the reclamation Karakalpakstan, the southern and south-western part of the
status of irrigated lands, the development of reclamation and Republic of Turkmenistan.
irrigation systems, on Widespread implementation of intensive The main source of irrigation in the Khorezm region is the
Amudarya River. All irrigated lands of the Khorezm region are

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 CONDITION OF IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE SYSTEMS IN THE KHOREZM REGION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
THEIR IMPROVEMENT

served by irrigation systems, Pitnyak arna, Tashsaka, Shavat,

Urganch arna, Daryalik arna, Kilichbay, Palvan, Gazavot and
others (Table 1, Figure 1).

Table 1.The main irrigation systems of the region

№ Channel Name The length, km. Total service area, ha
1 Pitnakarna 6.0 6155
2 Tashsaka 684.6 173774
3 Shavat 150 109100
4 Urgench arna 10 6316
5 Daryolik arna 22 14803
6 Kilichbay 65 26680
7 Palvan 18 27700
8 Gazavat 88 47400

Figure 1. Schematic map of the irrigation system of the Khorezm region

Irrigation systems, represented by a system of canals in earthen mineralization increases sequentially - from 2-3 in the upper
channels with an excessively specific length of elements of the layers to 50-60 g / l at a depth of about 20 m [14].
economic and on-farm network, non-working hydraulic
structures, have an efficiency in the range of 0.60-0.84. Losses of RESEARCH RESULTS
water in half of the plots with the adopted irrigation technology, The groundwater regime in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya
which ensure desalination of the active layer in the inter- river is formed under the influence of climatic conditions, as well
irrigation periods, comprise (surface discharge, excessive depth as human irrigation and land reclamation. The hydrogeological
filtration) from 20 to 40 % of the irrigation rate, i.e. The conditions of Khorezm are extremely complex, which is
efficiency of irrigation equipment is in the range of 0.65-0.84. explained, first of all, by the lithological and geomorphological
structure of the territory and the features of the economic use of
MATERIALS AND METHODS land for irrigation.
The irrigated area of the Khorezm region is approximately 276.4
thousand ha, or about 7% of the total irrigated area of Under the influence of artificial or natural drainage, groundwater
Uzbekistan. Currently, open collector-drainage networks in the carries accumulated salts into drains. The moisture consumption
region occupy more than 30 thousand ha of irrigated area. for transpiration in continuous crops is not only useful from the
point of view of crop formation, but also plays an extremely large
Based on numerous studies, the hydrogeological and reclamation preventive role in preventing soil salinization. Therefore, on
features of the oasis were determined. Three main types of irrigated lands it is necessary to have fields with a full green
groundwater regime are distinguished [10, 11, 12, 13]: cover of cultivated plants.
1. Hydrogeological (observed on the area of the floodplain Due to the negligible flow, groundwater is shallow (within 0.5-
and the first floodplain terrace of the Amu Darya); 1.5 m, sometimes 2.5-3 m or more). Their level reflects the total
2. Irrigation and land reclamation (in the irrigated areas of result of all waters filtered in the region and, due to the irrigation
the ancient delta regions); seasonality, has a pronounced seasonal character. The main
3. Hydrological-climatic or hydrological-irrigation- feature of the groundwater regime is the clearly expressed
reclamation (over the entire area of non-irrigated lands). amplitude of their level fluctuation between the spring-summer
(March-July) maximum and the autumn (September-November)
In the irrigated areas at a depth of 1-3 m or more, a fresh pillow minimum, reaching 50-80 cm, and sometimes 100 cm or more.
forms; fresh lenses with a thickness of 25-30 m are observed The annual amplitude of the groundwater level for individual
along the routes of large channels; in the lake-peripheral region, years of the Khorezm region reaches 130-220 cm (Fig. 2).

Journal of critical reviews 418

 CONDITION OF IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE SYSTEMS IN THE KHOREZM REGION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
THEIR IMPROVEMENT

Figure 2. Dynamics of the groundwater level in the Khorezm region over the years of research

Higher groundwater levels are maintained throughout the The soil cover of the region is formed by an ancient alluvium
growing season, and only from the second half of September does covered with agroirrigation sediment. The soil-forming process
the decline begin, lasting until the beginning of autumn is characterized by the presence of agro-irrigation sediment
(November) or spring (March) irrigation. This is due to higher received together with irrigation water, and is distinguished by
KZI, large specific water supplies, as well as geomorphological hydromorphism. The highest standing of GWL is up to 0.5-1.5 m.
conditions of the region. Natural underground outflow is difficult and absent in some
places, which leads to intensive annual salinization, the need for
According to the conditions of natural inflow and outflow of flushing and cleaning the drainage.
groundwater in the Khorezm region, the following are
distinguished: The natural features of the region, namely the drainage of
groundwater, require the maintenance of the soil layer in a
1.The modern floodplain and floodplain strip of the Amu Darya desalinated state. Agricultural production is based on land
river with favorable conditions for local influx and outflow, and leaching, frequent watering of crops and loosening of the upper
poor salinity of groundwater. soil layer. The experience of recent decades shows that the
2.The irrigated territory of the ancient delta zones of the ancient expansion of sown areas on the basis of increasing water
rivers Daryalyk and Daudan with improved conditions for local availability and switching to gravity irrigation has necessitated
outflow with average salinity of groundwater. the development of artificial drainage.

3.The lake-peripheral zone of the Amudarya river with difficult The collector-drainage network affects the reclamation state of
outflow and strong salinity of groundwater. the soil in the aeration zone. This is evidenced by the dynamics of
changes in the degree of salinization of irrigated lands.
In the zones of the modern Amu Darya river strip and the
irrigated territory of the ancient delta zones, due to the The area of highly saline lands does not change or changes
developed collector-drainage network, a relatively better water slightly, depending on the water content of the year. In Fig. 2,
exchange is ensured than under natural conditions with difficult long-term soil observations were carried out according to the
groundwater outflow. Mineralization of collector-drainage flow degree of salinization.
is on average 2-3 g / l. Lightly saline lands account for 56.1% (2010-2018), the rest are
medium (31.5%) and highly saline (12.4%) (Fig. 3).

Figure 3. Distribution of land in the Khorezm region by the degree of salinization

Conducted by numerous field and laboratory studies, it was production and agricultural technology of cotton growing (Uzbek
found that on lightly saline lands, the yield of raw cotton Scientific Research Institute of Cotton Production).
decreases by 10-15%, medium-saline - up to 35% and highly
saline 80-85% compared with non-saline soils, which is
confirmed by the data of the Research Institute of Selection, seed

Journal of critical reviews 419

 CONDITION OF IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE SYSTEMS IN THE KHOREZM REGION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
THEIR IMPROVEMENT

The mechanical composition of the irrigated meadow-alluvial From 2000 to the present, the length of inter-farm CDS has not
soils of the region is dominated by medium loamy soils - 51.0%, changed much. This is due to the sufficient length of the water
heavy loamy - 17.9%, light loamy - 31.1%. supply system for the removal of groundwater outside the region
(38.5 lm / ha). Theoretically, for the region, the specific length is
From 1980 to 2000, the length of the GDS increased from 6,750 35-40 m / ha (Fig. 4).
to 10,618 km, including inter-farm GDS from 3,150 to 3,718 km,
i.e. 568 km, on-farm CDS - from 3,600 to 6,900 km - at 3,300 km.

Figure 4. The length of the CDN in the Khorezm region

The increase in water horizons in the main canals made it sandy loam and drainage is overgrown with vegetation
possible to transfer almost 80% of the land to gravity irrigation, annually.
the remaining 20%, mainly in the upper and middle parts of the 3. For the further development of irrigated agriculture,
system, remained on machine-chigir irrigation. However, a sharp increasing water availability and improving the reclamation
increase in water availability without simultaneous measures to state of old irrigated lands, it is necessary to improve
improve the operation and ensure the normal reclamation state irrigation and drainage systems based on progressive
of the land caused negative consequences. Inadequate operation, irrigation and drainage techniques, which will increase the
uneven water distribution and low technical level of the systems productivity of reclaimed lands.
contributed to the discharge of excess water from inter-farm 4. It is necessary to put into practice the design of science-
canals, as a result of which the area of wetlands increased in the based solutions for the reclamation complex of irrigated
center of the oasis [15]. lands.
5. Conduct a survey of the state of irrigation and drainage
Gravity irrigation led to a sharp increase in groundwater, a systems and determine the priority of the engineering
change in water balance and the secondary salinization of the work.
region’s lands. 6. Make a plan and budget for the implementation of
With the growth of technical and economic opportunities, 3 main rehabilitation work in irrigation and drainage systems.
systems of main collectors have been created: Lake-Equalization,
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