Assessment of the land reclamation condition using environmental variables in Ellikkala district, Karakalpakistan

Abstract

"Adverse amelioration condition of irrigated lands is an increasing problem to maintain sustainable agricultural production. Conventional methodology in land reclamation condition (LR) assessment is based on qualitative analysis of information from: (i) network of piezometer wells (e.g., groundwater table and salinity) and (ii) sampling sites (e.g. soil salinity). This method has certain disadvantages in terms of the time, approach and cost required for objective assessment and interpretation of LR condition. Moreover, the LR condition is affected by variable environmental conditions and management factors such as soil texture, fertility, water availability, drainage density and so on, among others. How can the available data from different organizations be integrated? What are the relationships amongst the factors? These are major issues which are not easily resolved. It is, however, only through an integrated, multi-level, approach that both the land and water management and the existing interactions amongst the individual components of the landscape can be evaluated. Therefore, it is often advantageous to aggregate several indicators into an index allowing different factors to be taken into account simultaneously in order to monitor the state of the environment. In response to these problems, main goal of this study is to explore and review existing assessment methods used in Uzbekistan to assess and map land reclamation condition and find out environmentally sensitive areas, on which further land improvement measures can be taken. The soil (texture), land condition (groundwater table) and water availability (distance to the irrigation systems) have found as main factors effecting on LR condition throughout the study region. The simplicity of approach with available data allows to identify, combine and understand the influencing factors on LR condition for better management of the land and its resources. "