Water Brings Farms Back to Life in Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley

Ageing infrastructure, inefficient irrigation systems and growing climate pressures were causing the valley to lose more than one billion cubic metres of water every year.

For families across Uzbekistan's Ferghana Valley, water determines whether orchards bear fruit, livestock can be fed and household incomes remain secure. Nearly 10 million people live in this densely populated agricultural region, where most farming depends on irrigation supplied by the Syr Darya River and its mountain-fed tributaries. Communities at the far end of the canal network have often received around 30% less water than they needed, leaving farmers struggling during April, May and June, when growing crops are at their thirstiest.

Ageing infrastructure, inefficient irrigation systems and growing climate pressures were causing the valley to lose more than one billion cubic metres of water every year. In the Ferghana district, community elder Ortiqali Madumarov remembers residents carrying water in canisters during the most difficult months, using whatever they could collect to stop their fields from drying out completely.

A Modern Pumping Station Reaches Thirsty Villages

Conditions began to change after the Avval-Logon pumping station was commissioned near Ortiqali's village in 2025. The facility is one of 13 pumping stations modernised through the second phase of the World Bank-supported Ferghana Valley Water Resources Management Project, bringing automated operations and energy-efficient technology into a system that communities rely on every day.

Avval-Logon now delivers more than 60 million cubic metres of water each year to roughly 5,000 hectares across 14 villages. Its reach includes an agricultural cooperative, about 40 farming enterprises and more than 3,000 landowners, giving growers a steadier supply during the planting and harvesting seasons and helping previously dry land return to production.

In Usmonobod village, mahalla chair Dilnoza Otaqulova has watched a barren orchard become productive again. Standing among trees during the cherry harvest, she described what dependable irrigation means for a community of 3,000 residents living in more than 700 households. Most local families earn their income from horticulture and livestock, making every improvement in the water supply directly connected to food, employment and financial security.

Better Mulberry Leaves Create Work for Women

Reliable irrigation has also opened opportunities beyond traditional crop farming. Dilnoza helped organise ten women from low-income households to take part in silkworm breeding under a government programme introduced in April 2026 to support breeders and home-based producers.

Each spring, the women receive silkworm eggs and spend 30 to 40 days feeding the larvae with fresh mulberry leaves before collecting the cocoons for sale to local silk producers. Water plays a central role because well-irrigated mulberry trees produce juicier leaves, helping caterpillars grow faster and improving the quality of the cocoons. The work provides the women with full-time seasonal employment while supporting a silk-making tradition deeply connected to the Ferghana Valley's history and local economy.

Two Raspberry Harvests Strengthen One Family's Income

The impact can also be seen on Gulasal Yoldosheva's family plot. A preschool teacher currently on maternity leave, Gulasal lives with her two children and retired in-laws while her husband works abroad as a labour migrant. She began growing berries as a way to earn money closer to home and reduce the family's complete dependence on remittances.

Scarce water once limited the family to a single raspberry harvest each year, with uncertain yields and uneven fruit quality. Consistent irrigation now allows them to collect two harvests, producing better berries that can be sold at the local market and creating a more dependable source of household income.

The transformation taking place around Avval-Logon shows how irrigation investment reaches far beyond canals and pumping equipment. Water has revived orchards, strengthened small farms, created paid work for women and given families more control over their livelihoods, turning land once considered too dry to cultivate into a source of food, income and renewed confidence.