Major crop damage in drought-affected regions

Rice and cotton crops in Uzbekistan’s drought-affected regions of Karakalpakstan and Khozerm have suffered substantial losses, while soil degradation from years of continual cultivation has irreparably damaged soil productivity, a UN report said. The report, issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) following a joint FAO-WFP mission to the area in October, said the team also established there had been major damage to other food, horticultural and cash crops. Furthermore, loss of fodder and shortage of drinking water had hit the livestock sector. Noting that providing emergency agricultural inputs would not help improve the overall situation, the mission recommended that the government urgently approve and implement necessary long-term measures. “Temporary emergency assistance will achieve very little and might further exacerbate the present situation,” the report stressed. A one-year key project proposed by the mission aims to strengthen the ministry of agriculture and water resources at central and regional levels to mitigate the effect on Uzbekistan of future droughts.