Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
TASHKENT, June 14 (Xinhua) — In late May, Wang Ping, a researcher at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, arrived in the western city of Nukus, Uzbekistan, to participate in joint research with the Aral Sea International Innovation Center. He can no longer count how many times he has visited the city near the Aral Sea. This time, he and his colleagues brought two “treasures”: halophyte seeds (plants that easily adapt to life in saline soils) and solar panels.
The Aral Sea, located in central Eurasia on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was once the fourth-largest lake in the world. Since the 1960s, under the influence of numerous factors such as increased human use of water and climate change, it has been rapidly drying up, shrinking by more than 90 percent. The shoreline has retreated, the soil has become more saline, and a desert of over 50,000 square kilometers has formed in its place. The Aral Sea has become a symbol of the catastrophe, known as the “tears of Central Asia.”
The ecological crisis of the Aral Sea has caused not only a shortage of water resources, but also huge rock formations have formed on the seabed, causing dust and salt storms that damage vast territories. Desertification, soil salinization, loss of biodiversity – all this has a significant negative impact on the ecology and economy of the countries in the region. In April 2010, then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, after visiting the Aral Sea, said that its drying up was “one of the worst ecological disasters on the planet.”
For many years, scientists from China and Uzbekistan have been working together to find solutions to the Aral Sea’s environmental crisis, from joint scientific expeditions and soil reclamation to the creation of model regions where water-saving cotton-growing technologies are used.
“Water shortage, soil salinization, lack of modern agricultural technologies and related systems – these are all acute problems holding back the development of Central Asia,” Wang Ping said.
This time, Wang Ping brought to Nukus seeds of more than ten types of halophytes (saltwort, saxaul, wormwood, etc.), hoping to successfully grow them in laboratory conditions and then mass-produce them around the Aral Sea to restore biodiversity and combat salinization and dust storms.
Wang Ping also told Xinhua that several months ago, the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography delivered about 1.5 tons of halophyte seeds to Tashkent for use in a salt-tolerant botanical garden that experts from the two countries are preparing to jointly develop. “These seeds will not only be directly used for saline land reclamation and ecological restoration, but also lay the foundation for local botanical diversity reserves, research and development.”
“It’s cloudy today, which is good for field work. Let’s try to complete the drip irrigation of this experimental halophyte demonstration field,” says Wang Ping. In another Aral Sea town, Muynak, Wang Ping and his colleagues are installing a water-saving drip irrigation system in a field and leading a local cooperation team that is installing photovoltaic panels to harness solar energy for the halophyte irrigation system.
In the past two years, Chinese researchers have been promoting the “integration, testing and demonstration project of applying photovoltaic technology to the management of the Aral Sea ecological environment.” In Nukus, the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography and the Aral Sea International Innovation Center launched a pilot project on cotton cultivation with an integrated solar energy, water and fertilizer system last year. With the help of membrane drip irrigation for cotton, photovoltaic generation and an intelligent integrated water and fertilizer supply machine, intelligent drip irrigation and fertilization of fields were realized, which led to an increase in cotton yield by more than three times, and the cost and water consumption were significantly reduced.
The diligence of Chinese experts and the development prospects opened up by Chinese technology impressed many local farmers and agricultural experts. Local parliament members sent a letter of thanks to the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography and expressed hope for establishing long-term cooperation and expanding the experimental zone with funding from the Uzbek side.
“The Aral Sea’s environmental crisis is a common problem for the region, and no country can cope with it alone,” said Uzbek political commentator Sharofiddin Tulaganov, noting that cooperation between Uzbekistan and China in the environmental management of the Aral Sea has already yielded noticeable results, and China’s contribution deserves respect.
“This is not only about environmental management of the Aral Sea, but also about practical manifestations such as improving people’s well-being and building trust. By jointly promoting green and innovative development, we not only strive to restore the ecological environment of the Aral region, but also create a bright future of sustainable development for all of Central Asia,” he noted. –0–