SUMMARY INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION REPORT Supplementary Appendix to the Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors on the GRAIN PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT UZBEKISTAN The IEE is available on request. 14 November 2003 Supplementary Appendix H 1 PART I: SUMMARY INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION A. INTRODUCTION 1. This report summarizes the results of the initial environmental examination (IEE), which investigated the Project’s negative and positive environmental effects. Quantitative descriptions will be given where the data allow. B. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 2. The Project is an agricultural improvement project that aims at increasing the efficiency and productivity of wheat cultivation in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. The Project is classified as a category B project. 3. The proposed Project scope comprises four components: (i) wheat varietal selection and seed production; (ii) enhancement of farm management; (iii) agricultural enterprise development, including provision of farm machinery services; and (iv) project management. The last component will have no environmental impacts and is excluded from this examination. 4. The Project activities will center on three focus rayons (districts) of Kuyi-Chirchik (in Tashkent oblast), Zamin (Djizak) and Katakurgan (Samarkand). The areas of the three rayons are 146,778 ha, 286,000 ha and 56,000 ha, respectively. The Project will provide broader assistance (introduction to new varieties, seed production quality control, extension technologies) to five provinces (oblasts) of Uzbekistan. These are Tashkent, Syrdarya, Djizak, Samarkand, and Kashkadarya. They are located in the central-east and south-eastern regions of the country. C. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 1 Physical and Ecological Resources 5. The focus rayon of Kuyi-Chirchik is located in the southern end of the Tashkent oblast. The Chirchik River, a tributary of the Syrdaya that originates in the Kyrgyz Republic, traverses through the district. The land is mostly a gentle sloping plain in which alluvial sediments are the main constituents of the soil, classified by in the local system as sierozems and meadow soils. The admixture of aeolian deposits with sandy alluvium from the mountains has produced moderately fertile soils. The greater part of the irrigable land to the northwest of the district receives water from the Chirchik River. The Angrien River, the upstream and parallel tributary of the Syrdarya, bounds the district to the southeast and provides irrigation water to the southeast zone. 6. The focus rayon of Zamin is the eastern most district in the Djizak oblast. Zamin is bounded to the south and east by the mountains bordering Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Much of the district is mountainous, with a nature reserve and national park in the higher elevation outside the cultivated agricultural areas. The main cultivated area in the district is the irrigated plain that slopes down gradually from the higher piedmont zone in the south northwards toward the Syrdarya River. The cultivated area is divided into three zones, with the southern most end being marginally1 irrigable. The soil of the area is predominantly sierozem, changing from gray to brown down the slope. Colluvium and alluvium from the hills have 1 Marginally irrigated areas are those that now do not receive any irrigation water or that receive only enough to supplement rainfall. Supplementary Appendix H 2 formed well-drained, sandy and loamy soils in the upper zone, where the water table is 2-4m deep and too deep to cause salinity problems. Much of the mid-zone is under-lain by a thick and impermeable gypsum horizon at 1.5 to 2 m deep. This horizon interrupts the natural leaching of salts by rain and irrigation water so that not only is the water table in summer about 1.5m deep, but secondary salinity has created a moderate level of salinity over a considerable area. The lower zone receives lateral drainage of groundwater from above so the water table during summer is 1 to 1.5m deep, and a serious level of secondary salinity is common, due to failure of the drainage system. 7. The rayon of Katakurgan is the most westerly district in the Samarkand oblast. The district receives most of its water from the Zarafshan River, a major tributary of the Amudarya that originates in Tajikistan and flows westwards. The central zone of the district is the meadowlands and interfluves of the two rivers; it has flat and fertile alluvial land. The district soils are loams and sandy loams, with relatively high infiltration rate. Most of the land in the district is non-saline. Sixteen percent of riverine land has a summer water table between 1 and 2 m deep and is only slightly saline. 8. Five project oblasts included under the Project cover three of Uzbekistan’ main climatic zones, which are the low plains and dry steppes, foothills, and mountains. Nearly all cultivated lands are in the low plain and steppes zone which is between 400 m mean sea level (MSL) to 1,200 m MSL. Average precipitation in this zone ranges from 250 mm to less than 400 mm per year, with maximum precipitation occurring in March and April, with August and September as driest months. Winter is short and produces little snow cover. Snowfall totals around 2 to 11 cm. Spring is likewise short and can begin as early as late February. The growing season starts in early March in the south, and late March/early April in the Tashkent oblast. Summers are hot and dry and last from early June until September. The hottest months are July and August. 9. Almost 100 percent of surface water resources in the Project area are found in the drainage basins of the two major rivers of Syrdarya and Amudarya flow from east to west with upper watersheds in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajkistan, respectively. The Tashkent, Syrdarya, and Djizak oblasts are in the Syrdarya basin, downstream (i.e., west) of the most fertile agricultural region of Fergana valley in the eastern part of the country (which is outside the Project area). The oblasts of Samarkand, and Kaskadarya, in the southern half of the Project area, are in the Amudarya basin. For the Syrdaya, of the total flow of 46 million m3/year, 28 percent (13 m3) is estimated to be diverted to the oblasts of Tashkent, Syrdarya and Djizak. Of the average total flow of 70 million m3/year on the Amudarya, 15 percent (11 million m3) is diverted to the oblasts of Kaskadarya and Samarkand. More than 95 percent of the surface water diversions are for irrigation. 10. In 2000, the five Project oblasts had a total of 852,700 hectares (ha) of wheat cultivation area distributed to both irrigated and rain fed areas as shown in Table 1. The Table shows that 43.5 per cent of the land cultivated in 2000 was planted to wheat; 28.6 percent was irrigated and 15.0 percent under the rain fed system. Supplementary Appendix H 3 Table 1: Wheat Production in Project Area in 2000 Total Wheat Area Wheat Wheat Total WheatAgricultural as % of Total Oblast Area Yield Production Land Ag. Land Ha t/ha Tons ha % Irrigated Wheat Djizak 108,500 2.2 239,900 396,000 27.40 Kashkadariya 152,000 2.1 320,560 478,000 31.80 Samarkand 100,000 2.6 260,100 448,000 22.32 Syrdariya 93,700 2.0 190,211 265,000 35.36 Tashkent 105,500 3.3 345,050 372,000 28.36 Total 559,700 1,355,821 1,959,000 28.57 Dryland/Rainfed Wheat Djizak 110,000 0.6 66,000 396,000 27.77 Kashkadariya 92,000 0.6 55,200 478,000 19.25 Samarkand 74,000 0.6 44,400 448,000 16.52 Syrdariya 0 0.6 0 265,000 0.00 Tashkent 17,000 0.6 10,200 372,000 4.57 Total 293,000 175,800 1,959,000 14.96 2 Human and Economic Development 11. Wheat is produced by all types of farms. Wheat is a very common crop on shirkat and private farms. In the case of house plot owners, about 70 percent of house plot owners in Djizak, Samarkand, and Karkadarya grow wheat principally to meet the subsistence needs of poorer households2. 12. Kuyi-Chirchik. The area has a relatively high density of population and is visibly more prosperous than the national average. Although it is within daily commuting distance of the city of Tashkent, the economy of the district is predominantly agricultural. Of the 56,000ha of arable land, 37,500ha is irrigable, with 40% of cotton and 39% of wheat. Population is estimated at 96,000, giving an average density of 2.6 persons per irrigable ha or about 1.7ha of irrigable land per family. 13. Zamin. Some 124,000 people live in the 286,000 km2 of the district, mostly concentrated in the piedmont and lower zones of irrigable land, about 338 km2. Average population density is 3.7 per ha of irrigated land or about 1.4 ha of irrigated land per family. The district has large tracts of rangeland grazing that supports privately owned flocks and herds but there is little employment other than agricultural labor. The district is probably below average in terms of family income. 14. Katakurgan. The total population of 180,000 is fairly densely distributed, many in the urban zone and most of the remainder on the lowland farms. Average population density is 6.8 persons/irrigated ha or about 0.7ha of irrigated land per family. This density is greater than the other two districts but doubtless is weighted by including the large urban population 2 The Ministry of Health, Tashkent annual norm for consumption of bread products per capita was established as 98.6 kg in 0ctober 1990.