Water, Energy and Carbon Tradeoffs of Groundwater Irrigation-Based Food Production: Case Studies from Fergana Valley, Central Asia

Akmal Kh. Karimov, Iroda Amirova, Aziz A. Karimov, Abdullo Tohirov and Botir Abdurakhmanov
Additional contact information
Akmal Kh. Karimov: Ecology and Water Resources Management Department, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agriculture Mechanization Engineers, Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan
Iroda Amirova: Center for Policy Research and Outreach, Westminster International University in Tashkent, Tashkent 100047, Uzbekistan
Aziz A. Karimov: CAC Regional Office, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan
Abdullo Tohirov: Sogd Branch, Tajik Institute of Horticulture and Vegetable Growing, Tajik Academy of Agricultural Science, Gafurov 735690, Tajikistan
Botir Abdurakhmanov: Ecology and Water Resources Management Department, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agriculture Mechanization Engineers, Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-24

Abstract: In arid environments, water shortages due to over-allocation of river flow are often compensated by lift irrigation or pumping groundwater. In such environments, farmers using pumped irrigation can deploy on-farm energy-efficient and water-saving technologies; however, pumping water requiring extra energy is associated with carbon emissions. This study explores how to increase crop production using pumped irrigation with minimal energy and carbon emissions. The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to examine on-farm energy consumption and carbon emissions in gravity and groundwater irrigation systems; and second, to explore system-level alternatives of power generation and water management for food production based on the results from the farm-level analysis. This study employs a novel system-level approach for addressing water, energy, and carbon tradeoffs under pumped irrigation using groundwater. These tradeoffs are assessed at farm and system levels. On-farm level estimates showed that farm-level interventions were insufficient to produce mutual gains. According to the results of the system-level evaluation, system-level interventions for water and energy conservation, the use of renewable energy to pump water for irrigation, and river basin scale cooperation are all required to maintain crop production while reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Keywords: water-energy-carbon nexus; groundwater; water-energy productivity; carbon dioxide emissions; renewable energy; Central Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1451/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1451/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1451-:d:735283

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().