ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 21. In the irrigation season of Kazakhstan 2024, about 1 billion cubic meters of water was directed to the Aral Sea, which is 3 times more than last year, Trend reports via the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan.
Agricultural producers in Kyzylorda have implemented water-saving technologies, resulting in a conservation of 200 million cubic meters of water, which has since been redirected to the Aral Sea. Since the start of the year, approximately 2 billion cubic meters of water have been channeled into the Northern Aral Sea, bringing the total volume of water in the sea to 22 billion cubic meters.
"In addition to our water diplomacy and collaborative efforts with colleagues from Central Asian nations, the adoption of water-saving technologies plays a crucial role in replenishing the Aral Sea. These technologies enable us to save hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water for this purpose. Consequently, we have increased subsidies for farmers implementing water-saving technologies from 50 percent to 80 percent. Over the next three years, the subsidy rate for agricultural producers utilizing irrigation water with these technologies will rise from 50 percent to 85 percent," stated Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov.
This year, farmers in the region implemented water-saving technologies on 55,000 hectares of rice fields. The total area of rice fields in Kyzylorda region is 84,000 hectares.