Azernews.Az

Thursday March 28 2024

Pushing challenge of desertification

15 October 2015 09:00 (UTC+04:00)
Pushing challenge of desertification

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan, a country with favorable natural environment that is home to nine climatic zones out of 11 possible, still faces its own ecological challenges. One of them, on par with water shortage, is the advancing desert, a pressing environmental issue that could lead to food shortage.

The semi-desert and the dry steppe with their mild winters and dry, hot summers cover most of the country. There is then no surprise that the process of desertification can be observed in the Absheron peninsula, Sumgayit city, the Mastaga and Alet settlements, Gobustan, Zaqatala region and many other areas.

Moreover, the environmental situation in the Absheron Peninsula, which has a high concentration of industrial production – a large number of oil facilities, oil refining, and chemical industry – has led to a wide range of changes in the landscape.

Zakir Aliyev, Ph.D., the Agricultural Sciences and Deputy Director at the Institute of Irrigation and Erosion of the National Academy of Sciences, told AzerNews that this problem is widespread in Azerbaijan as well as around the world due to global climate change and is exacerbated by the development of industrial zones, a non-constructive approach to land usage and other manmade activities.

“In scientific terms, this in itself is a product of degradation of arid ecosystems, which is quite dangerous and undesirable,” Aliyev said.

The territory of Azerbaijan, with its varied climatic characteristics, is among the regions mostly affected by drought and indeed prone to desertification, he said.

The intensive salinization of the soil and anthropogenic factors, including improper irrigation, are leading to the widening desertification of new land areas.

Azerbaijan is half-agricultural country, Aliyev said, that should be able to provide the population with agricultural and food products. This is only possible with the efficient use and conservation of land resources.

Expanding erosion processes can significantly weaken the economy of Azerbaijan by damaging arable land and preventing the country from achieving export diversification.

Despite the fact that desertification is mainly associated with the climate change and seemingly out of control, the anthropogenic affect on cultivable lands can at least be controlled by technology.

Some 60 percent of the country is mountainous, while 40 percent is comprised of low-lying areas. Atmospheric precipitation is distributed unevenly across different regions.

The scientist went on to explain that the country, which faces a water shortage, is not using its water resources effectively. Most agriculture production widely uses non-constructive irrigation methods, which can lead to a depletion of fertile soil and desertification.

For this reason, the Kur-Araz lowland is in a desert state at present. In most parts of the territory, the ground water level ascended 40-80 cm above ground, which developed swamp areas. The increasing carbonate in the soil has lead to soil salinity and there is not enough fresh water to wash away the salt.

Aliyev believes that the current irrigation scheme results not only inferior production, but primarily in losing the biological activity of arable lands, which may lead to ecologically unclean production and serious diseases in the population.

To curb these problems, the deputy director referred to the work of Academic Bahram Aliyev, who investigated a way out of the desertification trap, and suggested the development and implementation of a long-lasting state program to protect the land resources from disaster in accordance with the UN requirements.

Zakir Aliyev noted that the inefficient use of the areas and water resources is an issue that should be dealt with to protect the lands of Azerbaijan from desertification.

Along with these factors, the country also has been in a drought for a couple of years now, which is gravely affecting this year’s and future harvests, especially at the north-east slope of the Greater Caucasus.

However, despite the pessimistic forecasts last year, the climate impact did not prevent Azerbaijan from increasing the export of fruits and vegetables by 16.1 percent in 2014 to reach $ 291 million. Imports, by contrast, decreased by 13.5 percent and amounted to only $25.2 million.

At present, there is a trend in the region when monthly precipitation falls within 2-3 days and because of the nature of the soil, the rainfall mostly evaporates or rushes into the sea. The researchers believe, this trend will only contribute to desertification.

Azerbaijan is clearly in need of rearranging the water management system to better adapt to climate change, experts believe, as dry summer seasons expected in the country over the next few years according to forecasts.

--

Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more