The Aral Sea

1. The Aral Sea

2. Covers 5 of the old Soviet states, the Stans in the south eastern corner of the Soviet Union Once the 4th largest inland body of water in the world. In the past few years the Aral Sea has gained global attention as one of the greatest man-made environmental disasters in the world. The Aral Sea Basin

3. Two major rivers runs into the Aral Sea, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya. The Aral Sea like the Caspian Sea has no outlet. Water runs into the sea and some evaporates, naturally causing saline waters, particularly in dry years

4. Prior to 1960 • Lake brackish app. 10 g/l • Mainly freshwater fish adapted to saline water • Supported major fishing industry • Key regional transportation route • Supported irrigation, husbandry, reed production, fishing, trapping and hunting • River deltas support diverse flora and fauna

5. Irrigation tradition • Practiced for several millennia, some say it started 6,000 years ago • In 1900 3 mio hectares under irrigation • By 1960 4.5 mio under irrigation • However irrigation prior to 1960 did not measurable reduce inflow to the Aral Sea • It is the explosion since then to 7.6 mio in 1990 which have caused the damage.

6. South of Amu Darya delta lies an area 28.000 sq km used for the production of rice and cotton. • Production started here in 1918. • The Soviet Union wanted to be self sufficient with cotton. • Price of cotton was high after WWWI. • By 1938 they could export cotton.

7. The 850 mile Kara Kum Canal was opened in 1954 and bought prosperity to the desert region of Kara Kum. The Kara Kum Canal

8. Water and Land use

9. Courtesy The Aral Sea Homepage

10. Note the 1960 and 1990 shoreline

11. What happens when you practice agricultural Suicide?

12. Only a trickle of water has reached the lake since 1995

13. In the late 1980s salinity reached 23% • A huge salt storm is brewing in the upper left corner • Aral region pesticides have even been found in Antarctic penguins • Salt and pesticide chemicals have seeped into groundwater

14. 60.000 people abandoned their fishing livelihood- as commercial fishing ceased in 1982 • 500 species of birds, 200 species of mammals, and 100 species of fish have disappeared

15. Many fields have been poisoned by salt rising from waterlogged subsoil, encrusting young plants – increased salinity = higher water use.

16. Dust Everywhere Airborne salt and dust causes respiratory and eye problems and possibly throat and other cancers Liver and kidney problems Over 100 million tons of dust a year.

17. Poor quality drinking water is causing cholera, typhus and gastritis

18. Hospitalization rates increased from 20 to 25% between 1980 and 1987 Mortality rates have increased by 15 times over 10 years

19. The infant mortality rate is the highest in the former Soviet Union by a factor of 3-4

20. Climatic Consequences: • Increased continentality (inland climate) • Increase in salt and dust storms • Shortening of the vegetation period Ecological/Economic Consequences: • Degeneration of the delta ecosystem • Total collapse of the fishing industry • Decrease of productivity of agricultural fields Health Consequences: • Increase of serious decease (e.g. cholera, typhus, gastritis, cancer) • Increase of respiratory system deceases (e.g. asthma, bronchitis) • Birth defects and high infant mortality

21. What have been done • World Bank main player, spend more than US$0.5 bil to try and • Stabilize the Aral Sea level • Rehabilitate the region • Improve its water management • In 2004 it was concluded to give up on the largely dead Big Sea and try to salvage the Small Sea • Also UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, and scores of national gov. programs and NGOs

22. Can the Aral Sea disaster be reversed? • The Aral sea has received no shortage of attention in the past decade. Although measures have been taken on a limited scale to address the environmental and health problems in the basin, no conclusive or all-encompassing program has yet made satisfactory progress. • In the mean time the Sea continues to dry up, drinking water remains contaminated, and crops yield less and less while pollution increases. • Whether their will be an Aral Sea in 2010 remains a debatable question, and whether the proposed and approved programs make good their plans to assist the suffering people of the basin remains to be seen.

23. Challenges • Up until 1991 central Soviet decisions • Since 1992 agreements between seven independent countries (also Afghanistan and Iran)) • Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – irrigation • Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - hydropower • Conflict of interest: summer or winter flow • Hydro-solidarity • Involvement of international organizations

24. Challenges • Inadequate water for competing economic uses • More than half the water used in irrigation is wasted due to inefficiency in delivery and application (37% before it reaches the field and 21% in field losses) • Therefore water governance an issue – water user associations and intergovernmental and stakeholder cooperation

25. The Green Revolution

26. Why “The Green Revolution”? • Late 1940s - India and Pakistan gained Independence from England • The World’s worst recorded food disaster occurred in 1943 in British-ruled India. Known as the Bengal Famine, an estimated 4 million people died of hunger that year in eastern India. • When India and Pakistan gained Independence, it was natural that food security was one of the main items on the agenda.

27. Two responses to the food crises • 1. Indigenous responses • Rooted in the Independence Movement • Aimed at strengthening the ecological base of agriculture and the self-reliance of the peasants of the country • This was the policy encouraged by Mahatma Gandhi the leader of the independent movement; • Repairing nature’s cycle and working in partnership with nature’s processes was central to the indigenous approach • A bottom up approach

28. 1. Indigenous responses • But while Indian scientist and policy-makers worked on self-reliance ecological alternatives,

29. 2. Exogenous responses • another vision of agriculture developed in the US • Alarmed by growing peasant unrest in new countries in Asia • Korea, Malaysia, etc • Did not want other countries to go the way of China

30. The exogenous vision • It was not based on: • cooperation with but on the conquest of nature. • self-reliance of developing countries but on dependence of developed countries • diversity but uniformity (a few super varieties)

31. 2. Exogenous responses Green revolution based on • Introduction of a few ‘dwarf’ high yielding varieties • Intensive large scale agriculture based on • High level of capital input in irrigation, chemicals, fertilizer and machinery • Intensification of credit to purchase this input • Rice was introduced into Punjab and Hyderabad, not a traditional crop in this arid area • Favoring larger farmers

32. 2. Exogenous responses • Advisors and experts came from the US to shift India’s agricultural research and policy from and indigenous to an exogenous • Finding support in sections of the elite as they stood to gain from this approach, it suited their political interests and priorities • Driven by • Private organizations (the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations) • The US Government • The World Bank

33. 2. Exogenous responses • The Field Director of Rockefeller Foundation became head of Indian Agricultural Research and together with US-AID financed training of more than 2.000 Indian farmers in the US • The World Bank provided credit to introduce a capital intensive agricultural model in India • US-AID and World Bank also inserted pressure for favorable conditions for foreign investment in India’s fertilizer industry, import liberalization and elimination of domestic control

34. 2. Exogenous responses • Main support in India came from the Agricultural minister who was trained by one of the inventors of the G.R. and the young scientists trained in the US • Opposition from Planning Commission , Economists, State Governments and Agricultural Scientists • Fear of the social, economic and environmental impact as well as dependence on overseas input • The 1966 drought caused severe drop in food production in India • Lyndon Johnson conditioned food support to India on signing an agreement to adopt the Green Revolution package • India signed in 1967

35. The Miracle Rice and Wheat • The new genetically modified rice and wheat varieties responded well to fertilizers and irrigation • Increased water consumption for agriculture in India by 3 times * From groundwater aquifers * Surface water from dams/canal systems • The new varieties were dwarf varieties, with less output of straw, which in the indigenous production system was used to feed their cattle, and return producing milk and fertilizer, fuel and building material

36. The Miracle Rice and Wheat • Plants that were displaced by the new monoculture are pulses and oilseeds, crucial to the nutrient needs of people and the soil • The Miracle Seeds are not self-regenerating, so farmers can’t keep some of his grain for next season, but have to buy seeds • Not ‘high yielding’ but ‘high responsive’ seeds

37. Mono-cropping • Traditional crop rotation with fallow periods • Added nutrients • Controlled weeds and pests • mono-cropping – one of the responses to increased population • Continued cropping • Developed seeds • High input of fertilizer, pesticides, machinery and water • Single high yielding varieties • Loss of Agro biodiversity • Green revolution prime example

38. Example of Mono-cropping Mono-cropping of host plant with minimum fallow periods Shifting cultivation of host plant with long fallow period

39. So The Green Revolution was introduced in Punjab in North Western IndiaPunjab has an ancient irrigation historyIn the 8th century the rulers differentiated between irrigated and non-irrigated land for levying taxesA network of inundation canals irrigated millions of hectares

40. This did not cause water logging and salinization - only active 4-5 months of the year. Aligned along natural drainage features, not interfering with natural run off Many projects had several large canals and dams all following these guidelinesBy the middle of the 20th century 31 large canal systemsIn 1974 new major dams were build as part of the Indus River Irrigation Scheme

41. Increase in tubewells

42. Increase in tubewells and open wells

43. Hydrograph of Junagadh

44. In the Southwest of Punjabi groundwater is saline. But still • Farmers demand more water to leach the salt out of the ground despite water logging conditions • Dropping water tables risk infusion of saline water from neighboring areas

46. Depleting groundwater aquifers

47. The combination of large dams for surface irrigation, increased use of tubewells, and the high water demands for The Green Revolution varieties has led to major ecological impacts

48. Economic Impacts: High input costs: fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides High capital investment for the farmer High capital investment for the infrastructure Social Impact: Increased rural debt, rural unemployment and suicide rates Political Impact: Civil unrest, at least 15.000 people have been killed in violent conflicts

49. Loss of fertility Plants need more than NPK fertility also micronutrients, the use of HYV has depleted the soil of these nutrients With organic manure this does not happen because it contains these trace elements NPK fertilizer does not