This issue of Caravan showcases some of ICARDA’s efforts of coping with climate change in dry areas with improved water land management and resilient production systems. These include initiatives in conservation agriculture which provide sustained production levels while conserving the ecosystems on which our entire food system is dependent upon.
Water scarcity driven by climate change, growing demand, and inefficient management of water and related infrastructure is a serious threat to livelihoods in the Aral Sea Basin (ASB) of Central Asia. In recent decades, downstream water shortages have become increasingly common and inflows into the Aral Sea have become very limited.
On the eve of independence from the Soviet Union, a process of destatization, promulgated into Soviet law in early 1990, was proceeding under Gorbachev’s leadership. Yet, significant shortcomings in vision, influenced by historical ideology and contemporary friction, mitigated the full development of private land ownership.
Irrational water use and mismanagement are at the root of several environmental problems in the Aral Sea Basin, including secondary salinization. Pre-season leaching (February-March) is a common practice of farmers to manage soil salinity challenges. For example, farmers in the Khorezm region tend applying up to 600 mm of leaching volume to prevent accumulation of salts in the root-zone.
Animated demonstration of practical experience from a farmer perspective to establish pistachio farm in south of Kyrgyzstan. The script for the video was developed by the farmer himself leading step by step through his experience to learn about pistachio and experience of establishing pistachio farm on rangelands previously used for grazing.
The partnership between Kazakhstan and FAO has been constantly evolving since the country became a member of the Organization in 1997. Kazakhstan has recently increased its emphasis on investments in agriculture, forestry and rural development, and aims to modernize the sector while transitioning to a green economy.
FAO’s best-selling 2011 publication, <i>Save and Grow</i>, proposed a new paradigm of agriculture, one that is both highly productive and environmentally sustainable. This new book looks at the application of “Save and Grow” practices and technologies to production of the world’s key food security crops – maize, rice and wheat.
Meeting Name: European Commission on Agriculture
Meeting symbol/code: ECA/39/15/3
Session: Sess. 39
Electronic files of all major publications produced by FAO Forestry and the FO decentralized forestry units plus selected key publications from the same period produced by the FAO technical departments. The publication catalogue/CD-ROM/USB will be used to support knowledge sharing in forestry fields, commencing with the XIV World Forestry Congress in Durban, South Africa, in September 2015.