ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF HAY MULCHING UNDER DIFFERENT
SALINITY LEVEL IRRIGATION WATERS IN SYRDARYA PROVINCE
OF UZBEKISTAN
INTRODUCTION
Syrdarya province is one of the regions
of Uzbekistan most affected by land
degradation (ADB, 2004). Land
degradation in the province is mainly
manifested by secondary salinization.
Among the dominant anthropologic
reasons for the rise of salinity are the
inefficient operation of drainage and
irrigation systems, uneven field leveling,
non-observance of agronomic practices
in terms of their timing and prescribed
techniques, low efficiency of on-farm
water use, all of which contribute to a
rise in groundwater levels and the
subsequent mobilization of salts.
Syrdarya is also known for the strong
natural risk of land degradation due to its
climatic and agro-ecological conditions
specified by hot summers and low
precipitation, leading to rapid
evaporation from soil surfaces and
induced salinity.
PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY
Mulching is a well known soil
improvement measure. It is effective in
improving soil physical properties by
reducing water runoff and increasing
water infiltration. It also protects the soil
against raindrop impact, preventing soil
crusting and contributing to soil organic
matter and nutrients. Application of hay
mulch to soils can reduce tail water
generation at the field level, and thus
increase water use efficiency.
The advantages of hay mulching are
numerous:
Firstly, hay mulching allows for greater
moisture retention in the soil by
Insufficiency of fresh water resources is
the main constraint for agricultural
development in the province, even
though it is believed that considerable
amounts of underground saline and
drainage waters do exist. In this regard,
the use of mulching and waters with
different salinity level (high, medium,
low) has been researched by Uzbek
scientists and ICARDA partners under
the ADB–funded project on “Bright
Spots” (2005-2007) at Ak-Altin
experimental station in Syrdarya
province. This policy brief draws the
conclusions from the results of the
socioeconomic feasibility analysis of
these experiments and makes the
recommendations for farmers,
administrators and policy-makers on the
strengths and weaknesses of using hay
mulching and irrigation with different
salinity level waters while cultivating
cotton.
preventing rapid evaporation from the
soil surface under high summer
temperatures, thus reducing the need for
increased irrigation.
Secondly, the decomposition of hay
increases the fertility of soils adding
much needed organic matter and
nutrients to the soil.
Thirdly, mulching reduces cost
associated with weeding and inter-row
cultivation.
Fourthly, the yields under mulching are
higher than without mulching as the
moisture is kept in the soil uniformly for
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a longer period, the upper layer of soil does
not become hard.
Finally, hay mulching is conducive to the
development of different microorganisms
and insects communities that ensures the soil
remains viable without additional costly
cultivation.
Hay mulching technology has also
constraints for large scale adoption in the
province, as well as in Uzbekistan in
general:
Firstly, the biggest difficulty for promoting
this technology is the hay’s competitive use
as animal feed. During informal interviews
with farmers it was found out that farmers
prefer to give it to animals as feed rather
than use it as mulch in growing cotton,
mainly because they have more direct and
METHODS AND MATERIALS
The methodology used for economic
evaluation is based on cost benefit analysis
In addition, irrigating cotton with drainage
or mixed waters could contribute to the
efficient use of water resources, especially
in view of growing shortage of fresh water
resources. However, it should be stressed
that the main requirement for the
sustainability of this practice is the efficient
operation of the drainage system.
tangible benefits from livestock production
than from cotton cultivation.
Secondly, farmers’ awareness of the benefits
of hay mulching is also quite limited.
Finally, hay for mulching is applied
manually, necessitating labor costs, though,
we have to also consider that hay mulching
saves on labor costs related to inter-row
cultivation.
of on-farm enterprise budgets for each
treatment under the experiment. The cost
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benefit analysis is a technique for evaluating
the total costs of one or more technologies
with their total benefits. The data, regarding
the total costs including the costs of inputs,
as variable costs, and fixed costs such as
taxes and depreciation, represent the actually
incurred costs during the on-farm trials for
the treatments under the project. The total
benefits represent the income from all farm
outputs sold at given prices. The difference
between the total benefits and total costs is
the net benefit from the given technology.
The following are the definitions of the main
indicators applied in the economic
evaluation using cost- benefit method:

a. Marginal Rate of Return (MRR): is the ratio between the change in net benefit or net
gross margin (Gross Margin “With” - Gross Margin “Without”) – (Total cost “With” –
Total Cost “Without”) and the change in total cost. It shows the returns to the additional
investment due to technology adoption.

b. Benefit Cost Ratio (B/C): this is the ratio between gross margins and total costs, it is a
profitability indicator, values > 1 indicate that the technology is profitable, values < 1
suggest the technology is not profitable.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

During the experiments in 2005-2007,
cotton yields under hay mulching were
higher than without mulching, on average,
by 7%. Cotton yields were adversely
affected by the increase in the level of
irrigation water salinity. Although, the
mulching costs negatively impacted the
profitability of options involving mulching,
the most profitable option among those
experimented was the use of mulching with
low saline waters (Figure 1). The marginal
rate of return of the treatment involving
mulching and the use of low saline waters
was 110% as compared to no-mulching
option with the use of low saline waters.

Profitability of Altrnative Options

1.22
Benefit-Cost Ratios

1.20
1.18
1.16
1.14
1.12
1.10
1.08
1.06
1.04
1.02
Low salinity Medium High salinity Low salinity Medium High salinity
water salinity water water salinity water
water water
No mulching Mulching
Treatments

Figure 1. Profitability of growing cotton under alternative options, Ak-Altyn, Uzbekistan (2005-
2007)

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As a whole, the average marginal rate of
return of mulching treatments against those
without mulching was 37%. This low level
of marginal rate of return of mulching
treatments against no-mulching treatments is
explained by the low profitability levels
under mulching with high salinity waters. In
fact, mulching and the use of high salinity
waters yielded less net benefits than its no-
mulching equivalent. Similarly, mulching
and use of medium saline waters had the
marginal rate of return of 19% against use of
medium saline waters without mulching.
Finally, use of high saline waters without
mulching generated more marginal returns
than with mulching. In this regard, mulching
can be feasibly used only in combination
with the use of low saline waters. In the
other two cases, the level of additional
returns from mulching are either not
sufficient (medium saline waters), or even
negative (high saline waters).

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The analysis demonstrated that hay mulching can be applied with sufficiently
high profitability only in combination with low saline waters. Mulching in
combination with medium saline waters is slightly more profitable than the use of
medium saline waters without mulching, but the level of returns is not sufficiently
high to encourage farmers to rapidly adopt this management approach. It is not
recommended to use mulching in combination with high saline waters because of
negative profitability as compared to use of high saline waters without mulching.

2. Hay mulching contributes to the improvement of soil fertility and leads to

increased cotton yields. However, hay’s alternative use as animal feed would be
the highest constraint for the adoption of this technology by farmers, since the
feeding value of hay used for mulching is an important factor that will make it
less profitable to apply hay mulching even when irrigating with low saline waters,
since the benefit hay can generate when fed to cattle (milk, meat) can be higher
than the additional benefit it brings while cultivating cotton.

Authors:

NARS: Sadulla Avezbaev, Abdugani Mukumov

Tashkent Irrigation Institute

ICARDA: Aden Aw-Hassan, Alisher Mirzabaev

Acknowledgements:
German Bezborodov,
National Coordinator, Bright Spots Project, Uzbekistan

Contacts:
Regional Office of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) for
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Email: icarda-tashkent@cgiar.org. Website: www.icarda.org/cac