The publication of this Handbook was supported by the Russian Federation

Technology 4. The use of saline artesian water for the improvement of 
pasture quality and fodder production for livestock farming in arid 
deserts (desert oasis agriculture)

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Chapter 5.Innovative methods and technologies for amelioration of salt-affected soils and agroforestry practices in marginal landscapes 
http://www.cac-program.org/video/play/10
Irrigated agriculture systems using saline artesian water in Kyzylkum produce a net income of  12.5 
million UZS per year.
Increases in grazing pressure on Artemisia-ephemeroid pasture communities on grey-brown soils 
results in the accumulation of  chlorides and mixed chloride and sulphate salts and the loss of  
humus, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and potassium from the soil. Such consequences of  
human impact on pastures are very undesirable, yet the cost of  the rehabilitation of  such pastures 
is extremely high.
Joint research by the ICBA-CAT and the Institute of  Karakul Sheep Breeding and Desert Ecology 
Research (Uzbekistan) has demonstrated that the productivity of  degraded pastures can be 
increased by 20-40% through the improvement of  the surface layer of  soil (half  of  the rooting depth) 
under Artemisia-ephemeroid communities on brown sandy soils. Surface improvement technology 
implies the creation of  alternating strips of  ploughed and naturally vegetated soil within an area of  
pasture. It has been applied on pastures in the areas of  Karnabchul and Malikchul and piedmont 
semidesert communities of  the Nurat Mountains.
Areas of  cultivated pasture with limited irrigation can be profitable in the piedmont and steppe 
regions and on lower mountain slopes in the south of  Kazakhstan, the Chuy Valley in Kyrgyzstan, 
the valleys of  Zaravshan and Fergana in Uzbekistan and the Ashtsky Region in Tajikistan.
Experimental research sites were located on the most severely trampled semidesert and desert 
pastures around human settlements, within small livestock farms, around artificial water reservoirs, 
waterholes and shelters for sheep and cattle in piedmont and semideset regions.
The direction of  ploughed strips is perpendicular to that of  prevailing winds. Seed is usually 
sown in December-January, to a depth of  1-2 cm in a dense bed. The use of  fodder crop species 
with  different  ecological  and  phytocenological  characteristics  is  preferable  for  creating  pasture 
agrocenoses to be used all year round. Such species include trees (Haloxylon aphyllum), large shrubs 
(Salsola  Richteri  and  Salsola  Paletzkiana), medium shrubs (Halothamnus  subaphyllus), small shrub-like 
herbs (Salsola orientalis, Kochia prostrata, Camphorosma sp. and Artemisia sp.) and grasses (Poa bulbosa and 
short-lived ephemeroids).
The creation of  perennial pastures using desert and semidesert species of  fodder crops is achieved 
by sowing seed within ploughed soil strips 12-60 m wide, with undisturbed natural pasture 
vegetation strips 24-120 m wide left in-between. Seed is sourced from fodder plant nurseries (seed 
isles) created on elevated open slopes with respect to prevailing wind direction and plant flowering 
times. Ripe seeds are carried by the wind and are self-sown over distances of  50 to 100 m within a 
pasture, thus, allowing for the self  regeneration of  pasture communities.
The net income from 100 ha of  improved pasture is 4-6 times higher than that from an equal- sized 
area  of   natural  Artemisia-ephemeroid  pasture.  Capital  investment  into  creation  of   artificial