UNDERSTANDING FARMERS' CONTINUATION, SUSPENSION AND ABANDONMENT OF DRIP IRRIGATION IN UZBEKISTAN

Between 2019 and 2025, Uzbekistan installed subsidized drip irrigation on 664,000 ha and plans a further 220,000 ha by 2028, yet programme reporting counts installed hectares rather than systems in use. This critical review synthesizes evidence on continued and discontinued drip use in Uzbekistan, compares it with studies from Morocco, sub-Saharan Africa and China, and analyses the 2026 policy reforms. In a 2024 survey of 1,225 farms, 34 of the 201 farms that had ever used drip (16.9%) no longer used it, and former users in a national study most often cited weeds (33%), repair costs (24%) and low perceived efficiency (24%). The evidence establishes an installation–use gap but not a national abandonment rate. We propose a framework of six observable use states in which a fault leads to exit when the time needed to restore irrigation exceeds the crop's soil-water buffer. FAO-56 parameters show that drip's small, wet soil volume can leave about five days before crop stress at peak demand, against about 13 days for a fully wet root zone. We recommend reporting verified drip hectare-seasons and restoration times, accounting for water separately from use, and testing the framework with installation cohorts.

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