STORY: Sustainable tech improves harvest, ecosystem in Central Asia
DATELINE: Oct. 14, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:58
LOCATION: TASHKENT/URUMQI, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of China's water-saving irrigation technology
2. various of cotton fields in Uzbekistan
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Uzbek): SHERZOD DONAEV, Uzbek farmer
4. various of the Aral Sea area
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): CHEN XI, Director of the Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, Chinese Academy of Sciences

STORYLINE:

China's water-saving irrigation technology has been helpful in improving cotton harvest and the ecological environment in Uzbekistan.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Uzbek): SHERZOD DONAEV, Uzbek farmer
"We are in a cotton field. We planted seeds on this cotton field on April 20, 2023, by adopting Chinese technology."

While Uzbekistan is famous for its cotton production, in the past several decades the livelihoods of Uzbek cotton farmers have been under severe threat from the ecological crisis of the Aral Sea.

Once the world's fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea has shrunk remarkably since 1960 -- with its surface area dwindling from 67,000 square km in 1960 to just 6,000 in 2020.

The exposed lake bed has become a main source of salt and dust storms, with impacts reaching as far as China and Eastern Europe. 

Saving water is a crucial step toward ecological sustainability.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): CHEN XI, Director of the Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, Chinese Academy of Sciences
"To solve the water-saving irrigation problem in the Aral Sea area, we have gathered technical teams to conduct experimental demonstrations of Chinese technologies in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
If we implement the advanced water-saving irrigation techniques currently used in China, it can significantly reduce irrigation water usage, thus conserving a substantial volume of water. We have estimated that about 80 to 100 billion cubic meters of water can be saved. This, in turn, would help restore a significant portion of the previous water levels in the Aral Sea."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tashkent/Urumqi, China.
(XHTV)