Agroforestry plot in the front and degraded landscape in the background (Q. Shokirov)
Between 1993 and 94 an individual farmer initiated an orchard by planting a mix of fruit trees, such as apricots, walnuts, cherries, almonds and mostly apple trees in the rainfed hill zones of Muminabad District.
In the first couple of years 416 newly planted seedlings were watered manually: water was brought by trucks near to the plot and distributed to the seedlings with buckets. The orchard was established on the existing grazing land and therefore the seedlings had to be secured with a fence from livestock grazing nearby. First hard wire was used for fencing. Simultaneously, hawthorns (Dulona in Tajik) were planted along the fence in order to provide even stronger protection and establish a live fence for the future. Now, the fruit trees are fully-grown and fruits can be harvested every year. The farmer prunes trees annually, which is the key for fruit production. The farmer pointed out that in rainfed areas soils contain less nutrients and usually big trees do not produce high yield. Furthermore, pruned tree branches are used as firewood. The farmer also applies the pesticides B52 and B58, three times a year in the months of April, May and June. The total area of the plot is 1.03 hectares, whereof 0.60 hectares are orchard; Esparcet is covering roughly 0.30 hectares, 0.07 hectare is for haymaking and the rest of the 0.06 hectares is used for growing chickpea and wheat. There is also a road for machinery to pass and to turn around when plowing the land.
Purpose of the Technology: Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, the government officials distributed land to the villagers. The farmer always had a big interest to establish a small orchard and he obtained little more than a hectare of land. It is his project for retirement. He and his family worked hard throughout the establishment phase. They experimented by planting a variety of vegetables including melons and watermelons. The wild animals ate many of the vegetables and melons, what resulted in the farmer's idea of intercropping Esparcet.
Establishment / maintenance activities and inputs: According to the farmer, the first two years were very labor intensive and crucial to establish the orchard. He also had to face a challenge posed by the community, as overnight people from the nearby villages stole roughly 100 of his newly planted seedlings. This is one of the reasons why the farmer had to plant hawthorn in order to establish a live fence. In summary: The establishment phase included planting of young seedlings; manually watering for the first two years; plowing in between the tree rows by machinery; building a fence around the plot and planting/sowing hawthorns. Maintenance activities consist of the following activities: planting new seedlings; pruning of existing trees; grafting new sorts of trees, plowing by tractor in between the tree rows annually; chickpea and wheat cultivation; application of chemical pesticides three times a year. For cutting wheat, the farmer gets support from his son and friends. Every day, he goes to his orchard, which is located at a distance of more than 1.5km from his house. When this technology was documented he was about to build a small clay hut in his orchard.
It should be noted that the terrace structure was not implemented at once, but over the years tilling in between the tree rows along the contour lines formed terrace shaped rows.
The structure of terraces has been built over the years by tilling in between tree rows along the contour lines.
Natural / human environment: Muminabad is situated in the southwest of Tajikistan (Khatlon Province) and its hills are covered by loessial soil. Winter temperatures are low and the amount of precipitation is high. Summers are very hot and dry. The growing season lasts from March/ April to September/ October.
Location: Muminabad, Khatlon, Tajikistan, Tajikistan
No. of Technology sites analysed:
Spread of the Technology:
In a permanently protected area?:
Date of implementation: 10-50 years ago
Type of introduction
| Specify input | Unit | Quantity | Costs per Unit (Somoni) | Total costs per input (Somoni) | % of costs borne by land users |
| Labour | |||||
| Labour | ha | 1.0 | 4629.333 | 4629.33 | 100.0 |
| Equipment | |||||
| Machine use | ha | 1.0 | 227.833 | 227.83 | 100.0 |
| Petrol | l | 20.0 | 1.14 | 22.8 | 100.0 |
| Plant material | |||||
| Seedlings | Pieces | 516.0 | 0.621 | 320.44 | 100.0 |
| Construction material | |||||
| Hard wire and pillars | m | 320.0 | 1.4556 | 465.79 | 100.0 |
| Total costs for establishment of the Technology | 5'666.19 | ||||
| Total costs for establishment of the Technology in USD | 1'173.12 | ||||
| Specify input | Unit | Quantity | Costs per Unit (Somoni) | Total costs per input (Somoni) | % of costs borne by land users |
| Labour | |||||
| Labour | ha | 1.0 | 4493.5 | 4493.5 | 100.0 |
| Equipment | |||||
| Machine use | ha | 1.0 | 10.3 | 10.3 | 100.0 |
| Petrol | l | 20.0 | 1.14 | 22.8 | 100.0 |
| Plant material | |||||
| Pesticides | kg | 0.25 | 186.0 | 46.5 | 100.0 |
| Seeds | pc | 1.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 100.0 |
| Total costs for maintenance of the Technology | 4'576.8 | ||||
| Total costs for maintenance of the Technology in USD | 947.58 | ||||
