The workshop aimed at providing a platform for knowledge exchange, discussion and networking and brought together over 40 participants from various research institutes and universities in Germany. The presentations covered the topics of data infrastructure development for interdisciplinary research, diffusion of mechanized cotton harvesting, reforms and technology adoption in irrigation water management, organization of agriculture, market participation and value chains. As the presentations and discussions showed agricultural potential and rural development in the region have to face variety of challenges ranging from land tenure security, government interventions in input and output markets, inadequate access to credit, degrading land resources and climate change.
In his keynote speech on the status and future of irrigated agriculture in the Aral Sea Basin, Prof. Dr. Christopher Conrad from the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg presented the regional hotspots observed from geodata-driven studies. He emphasized the importance of integrating environmental research with social sciences and humanities in understanding drivers and outcomes of ongoing processes in Central Asia.
The workshop was organized in the framework of a PostDoc research of Dr. Golib Sanaev on technological and institutional changes for Uzbekistan’s integration into global cotton markets, which was supported by the Leibniz ScienceCampus “Eastern Europe – Global Area” (EEGA).
The presentation slides from the workshop are available here. For the access code, please contact caworkshop(at)iamo.de.
