Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 27-29 June 2021, a seminar on climate change and its impact on agricultural development was held in the cities of the Ferghana Valley for farmers. The event was organized within the framework of a joint project of UNDP and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan "Increasing the resilience and adaptation of farmers of the Ferghana Valley to the risks of climate change", carried out with the financial support of the Russian Federation.

For the Ferghana Valley, where most of the population lives in rural areas, the main source of income is the production of agricultural products. Farmers, private households supplying crops, have been facing problems associated with the effects of climate change, which affect the quantity and quality of agricultural production, for several years now. 

The seminar addressed issues such as the manifestation and factors of climate change, their impact on agricultural development, possible adaptation measures, as well as issues related to food security.

Discussing methods of combating and adapting against the effects of climate change, the participants emphasized that it is necessary to continuously work to improve agricultural practices and that today it is impossible to keep farming in the old way, to look for new ways of solving problems, to study and master new experience, it is necessary to introduce young people to the agrarian business, and of course, to share the knowledge gained with the rest.

“I believe that every farmer must be able to anticipate the risks of climatic events and take action long before the vagaries of nature. As measures, use seedlings and seeds of drought-heat-resistant varieties that are least susceptible to diseases and pests, use nets against possible sunburn and hail, be able to delay or accelerate awakening in early spring. A good farmer, even if the harvest died from natural factors, does not give up, by this moment he already has a well-thought-out scenario for growing another crop that will save him from losses, and it is possible that he will even come out with a profit,” says one of the seminar participants Mamurbek Islomov, head of the cooperative Bogbon TRAM Agro.

Today, assessing the situation related to the consequences of climate change, we can conclude that our farmers, increasingly faced with extreme weather events, have begun to prioritize the issues of obtaining and strengthening knowledge in this area, and they are interested in applying exactly those measures which not only adapt to the impacts, but can also reduce the impact on climate change itself.