On the face of it, a dry and warm winter appears like a “weather’s gift.” While many people were glad that they did not have to wear puffer jackets, ecologists raise alarm, and farmers face serious problems.
Among them are loss of winter crops, water scarcity in springtime, and further drought. Farmers are seriously concerned about the recurrence of the last year’s situation, when the crops of wheat and barley were half than that.
The farmers who have sown winter crops are not interested in warm winter and rain. If snow acts as a “blanket” for plants, the rain and the minimum freezing temperature are detrimental for crops.
Besides, snow melting has a direct impact on the irrigation water and soil status before the spring sowing season. Farmers are concerned about water scarcity this year.
Agronomist-seed grower Kybanychbek Cherikov said that plants in the fields have already sprung. But crop yield will be good only if the air temperature does not fall below 10 degrees with no snow. If it snows, 10-15 per cent of crops could be damaged.
According to Asylbubu Matkerimova, head of weather forecast department of the Kyrgyz Hydrometeorological Centre, temperatures across the country will vary widely between cold to warm.
“In some days of February, the air temperature will rise up to 7-12 degrees, but also will go down, i.e. the weather will change abruptly. Night air temperatures will go down to 10-12 degrees below zero. In December and January, the number of precipitation in various regions of the republic was 60-80 per cent of normal,” she said.
Agronomist-seed grower Kybanychbek Cherikov said such measures are taken usually before the sowing season.
“Farmers can treat the seeds with a special reagent that makes them frost-resistant. Now it’s too late to speak about it,” he said.
If there’s no snow, there’s no melt water. According to agronomists, the soil will be dry before the spring sowing season.
Farmers of Kyrgyzstan are thinking whether to start the sowing season this year or not. Last year, many agrarians sustained great losses because of the dry weather.
On the February 3 press conference, farmers from all over the republic said that in 2021 the Ministry of Agriculture failed to keep its promise to rehabilitate irrigation systems of the republic.
Thus, farmers have nothing else to do but to rely on spring rains only.
On January 29, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic reported that 1 billion som (1,176,000 dollars) were allocated to repair works of irrigation systems for the first time in the history of the country’s independence. The money was spent on repair and clearing of irrigation networks.
In turn, farmers say that despite the significant amount of money, contractors who should have performed clearing and rehabilitation works complain the money were not transferred to them because they needed to pay “kickback” first.
In addition to water scarcity, the farmers of the republic complain about the fuel price rise. According to the National Statistical Committee, in the last year the petroleum price rose up by 70 per cent. Because of the price rise at the Russian petroleum refineries, oil traders will have to level up prices in the domestic market of petroleum, oil and lubricants.
According to experts, this petroleum and diesel oil price rise will lead to the rise in the cost of agricultural product approximately by 30 per cent. It will naturally lead to the price rise in distribution and retail sales of agricultural products.
This publication was prepared under the mentorship programme of the Development of New Media and Digital Journalism in Central Asia Project implemented by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) with the support of the UK Government. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of IWPR or the Government of the United Kingdom.