EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES IN AGRICULTURE IN THE CONDITIONS OF UZBEKISTAN

Abstract

This study provides a comprehensive empirical assessment of the transition toward resource-use efficiency (RUE) in Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector, synthesized through the dual lenses of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) and digitalization. Uzbekistan, an agrarian republic where 43% of the land area (20.3 million ha) is dedicated to agriculture, faces acute resource constraints, including a 22% per capita decline in agricultural land over the past 15 years and a projected 35% decline in the Amu Darya river flow in Karakalpakstan by 2050. Focusing on the high-productivity irrigated landscapes of the Fergana Valley, the research evaluates the shift from conservative manual systems to automated "Smart Farming" architectures incorporating GPS navigation, drone-based monitoring, and Big Data analytics. Through a post-positivist analysis of 175 farm enterprises—comprising both autonomous Dehkan farms and large-scale agro-clusters—the study identifies that the intensive adoption of six or more CSA practices is associated with a 71% increase in farm income and a 43% rise in crop yields. Furthermore, water-saving technologies have expanded from 250,000 ha in 2020 to 800,000 ha in 2024, contributing to a 48% improvement in RUE. The findings demonstrate that precision interventions, such as fertilizer micro-dosing, deliver a return on investment (ROI) of 456%, underscoring the necessity of reconciling global sustainability paradigms with local constraints of soil salinity and energy-intensive pump irrigation [i].