Study on the utilization efficiency of land and water resources in the Aral Sea Basin, Central Asia

This paper analyzes and calculates the utilization and efficiency of land and water resources in the Aral Sea Basin (ASB) from 2000 to 2014, using MODIS remote sensing data and the Water Use Efficiency Monitor in Central Asia (WUEMoCA) database. The results show that (1) Over the past 15 years, the water area in ASB has decreased at a rate of 1048 km(2) per year, from a proportion of 2.5% in 2000 to 1.5% in 2014. The Aral Sea in particular has witnessed a significant reduction of 60.28% of its area, dropping from 28,119 km(2) in 2000 to 11,169 km(2) in 2014. (2)The annual yield per unit area of wheat was the highest (4.16 tons/ha), followed by rice (2.27 tons/ha) and cotton (2.22 tons/ha). Water productivity of wheat in the ASB was the highest (0.881 kg/m(3)), followed by rice (0.689 kg/m(3)) and wheat (0.451 kg/m(3)). (3) Generally, crop and water productivity in irrigated areas along the Syr Darya River is greater than that of the Amu Darya River, and that of the upper irrigation areas is larger than the lower ones. The Fergana Valley and Tashkent areas have the relatively highest land and water resources utilization efficiency.