Irrigation innovation: Navigating challenges in Uzbekistan’s water–energy–food–environment nexus

In the recent campaign leading up to the presidential election of July 9, 2023 in Uzbekistan, the incumbent president pledged to ensure the implementation of water-saving technologies across all irrigated lands by 2030. This ambitious initiative aims to revolutionize the country’s agricultural sector by replacing old water-intensive irrigation practices with a mix of modern innovative technologies, such as drip irrigation or laser land leveling. However, based on extensive interviews with farmers and local officials across Uzbekistan during the summer and fall of 2023, we learned that scaling up water-saving technologies is encountering significant challenges across different regions. This is due to the regions heterogeneity regarding water management, cropping patterns, and farm size, as well as vested interests in the retention of existing irrigation practices and subsidy systems.