I. Agricultural Background A. Factors Affecting Agriculture 1. Climate 2. Lands (upland and lowland, steppes, tundra) 3. Type of Agriculture 4. Agricultural Practices (husbandry, farming, fishing) 5. Agricultural Process (irrigation, dry farming, etc) * Sources 6. Agricultural Products 7. Exports II. Problems A. Problems 1. Rebel Activities 2. Drying of the Aral Sea and other bodies of water B. Factors Affecting the Problems C. Solution 1. Role of Government** III. Agricultural Events A. Festivities
AGRICULTURE IN CENTRAL ASIA

I. Agricultural Background of Central Asia A. Climate * Very dry climatic conditions * Hot summers and cool winters (much sunshine and very little precipitation) B. Land Use * Majority of the region consists desert land * Only 20% of the land is arable and is suitable for agricultural use C. Agriculture Practices (Process and products) 1. Animal Husbandry >Animal Herds (Cattle and Sheep) * Animals are one of the important exchange commodities – aside from their transportation use; they are also used for wool and skins production * herds provide food such as meat and dairy products, wool and leather from which to make clothes and all kinds of other household items such as felts, quilts, pillows, and mattresses. Minor animals: Chickens, goats, and pigs are also raised. 2. Farming - Almost all the sown agricultural land is under irrigation because of its arid climate.
>Wheat
>Cotton Plantation
Other crops or agricultural products: (Minor products) citrus fruits, dates, figs, melons, pomegranates, olives, sugarcane, sesame and pistachios.
II. Problems
A. Rebel Activities Collectivization, Privatization
-The Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have, over the past decade, privatized and/or leased out approximately
40 million ha of arable lands held by former state-owned and collective farms.
B. Aral Sea * The Aral Sea is actually a huge lake, located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. Nearly two-thirds of the lake has vanished since 1970. Local officials have yet to take any action to stop the disappearance of the Aral Sea.
Drying of the Aral Sea and other bodies of water * Salinization of Water * Poor Irrigation

Majority of the region consists of desert land (meaning it is unsuitable for agricultural use) and only 20% of the land is arable and is suitable for agricultural use. * Kara Kum and the Kyzyl Kum deserts covering Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan respectively. * (Available water resources (surface and underground) have always principal impact to the economic activities in Central Asia as limiting factor for development which is competing with ecological requirements.) Exception to those countries that are along the margins of Syr Darya and Amu Darya Rivers which drain into the Aral Sea. * Pasture-based is also prominent in Central Asia

Agricultural land in Central Asia is mostly desert and mountain pastures. Arable land suitable for crop production is around 20% of total agricultural land (and as low as 4% in Turkmenistan). In Russia and Ukraine, on the other hand, arable land is 60%-80% of agricultural land.[1] As a result, pasture-based livestock production is more prominent in Central Asia than in the core CIS countries.

By far the two most significant crops in Central Asia are cotton and wheat. Only Kazakhstan does not cultivate significant amounts of cotton. Central Asia is largely desert, and cotton production strongly relies on irrigation.

Amudarya and Syrdarya basin countries has played a major role in the drying and polluting of the Aral Sea because of the large amounts of water and fertilizer used in cotton cultivation. Cotton mono-culture during the Soviet period exhausted the soil and led to serious plant diseases, which adversely affect cotton yields to this date

Aside from these two primary crops, the region produces a wide variety of products which include barley, corn, flax, grapes, potatoes, rice, sugar beets, sunflowers, tobacco, apricots, pears, plums, apples, cherries, pomegranates, melons, dates, figs, sesame, pistachios, and nuts.

Animal husbandry constitutes a large part of Central Asian agriculture. Cattle, sheep, and poultry are the main animal species in agriculture, and breeding race horses is the pride of Turkmenistan. Some famous local breeds include the Karakul sheep and the Akhal-Teke horse. Some regions also cultivate mulberry trees and breed silkworms.

Available water resources (surface and underground) have always principal impact to the economic activities in Central Asia as limiting factor for development which is competing with ecological requirements.

Central Asia experiences very dry climatic conditions, and inadequate precipitation has led to heavy dependence on the Syr Darya and Amu Darya for irrigation. The region as a whole experiences hot summers and cool winters, with much sunshine and very little precipitation. The scarcity of water has led to a very uneven population distribution, with most people living along the fertile banks of the rivers or in fertile mountain foothills in the southeast; comparatively few live in the vast arid expanses of central and western Kazakhstan and western Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.