Agriculture is the key branch supplying food and raw materials for industry. It has two main parts — crop farming and livestock farming. In Uzbekistan agriculture is mainly irrigated and depends heavily on climate, soils and water resources. Exams ask you to match crops with areas, know the irrigation works, calculate yields, and explain the causes and effects of problems.
§1. Location factors and world types of agriculture
Natural factors: the amount of heat (growing season), moisture or the possibility of irrigation, soil fertility, relief. Socio-economic factors: labour, closeness to consumers and processing plants, transport, machinery, state policy and market prices. Types of world agriculture:
Commercial (intensive) — in developed countries: few workers, much machinery and fertiliser, high yields; output is sold on the market.
Subsistence (traditional) — in developing countries: manual labour, low yields, output mostly for the family itself.
Plantation farming — in tropical countries, a single crop for export (coffee, tea, cocoa, bananas, sugar cane).
The Green Revolution — from the second half of the 20th century in developing countries (India, Mexico), raising yields with high-yielding varieties, irrigation and fertiliser.
The agro-industrial complex is the combination of agriculture, the industries supplying it with machinery and fertiliser, and the branches that process and market its output.
§2. Crop farming in Uzbekistan
Most of Uzbekistan is desert or semi-desert, with little precipitation and long, hot summers. Farming is therefore mainly irrigated: irrigated land exceeds 4 million hectares and lies in river valleys and oases. In the foothills there is rain-fed (bogara) farming — mostly wheat and barley. Main crops and areas:
Cotton — the traditional industrial crop; since independence its area has been reduced and replaced by grain and other crops. Fine-fibre varieties are grown in Surkhandarya.
Grain (wheat) — its area was greatly expanded and grain self-sufficiency achieved.
Rice — very water-hungry, grown mainly in the lower Amu Darya (Khorezm, Karakalpakstan).
Vegetables and melons — in every province; Khorezm and Mirzachul melons are famous.
Orchards and vineyards — the Fergana Valley, Samarkand, Tashkent province; dried-fruit exports.
Subtropical crops (pomegranates, persimmons, lemons) and sugar cane — Surkhandarya (the hottest area).
Sericulture (raising silkworms on mulberry) — especially the Fergana Valley; Uzbekistan is one of the world's major cocoon producers.
Key pattern: water-loving crops (rice) — on lower river reaches; heat-loving (subtropical) crops — in the south; orchards — in foothill oases
§3. Livestock farming
Cattle (dairy and beef) — in irrigated oases and around cities, linked to fodder crops.
Sheep: karakul sheep on the desert pastures of the Kyzylkum and elsewhere — Bukhara, Navoi, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya; karakul pelts ("Bukhara karakul") are a well-known export. Meat-and-fat sheep graze mountain and foothill pastures.
Goats, horses, camels (in the deserts).
Poultry and fish farming (in reservoirs and lakes) are growing fast.
Bee-keeping and rabbit breeding are common on small farms.
Transhumance is based on seasonal movement: mountain pastures in summer, deserts and foothills in winter.
§4. Irrigation, problems and reforms
Main canals and reservoirs:
The Great Fergana Canal (1939) — built quickly by voluntary communal labour (hashar); irrigates the Fergana Valley.
The South Mirzachul Canal — for developing the Mirzachul (Hungry Steppe).
The Karshi Main Canal — pumping stations lift Amu Darya water up to the Karshi steppe; the Talimarjan reservoir.
The Amu-Bukhara Machine Canal — for the Bukhara oasis.
Water shortage — water resources are limited and the main rivers rise in neighbouring countries.
Soil salinisation — poor drainage lets the groundwater rise.
Outdated methods (furrow flooding) waste water; some canals are not concrete-lined.
The Aral Sea disaster — the result of excessive water withdrawal for irrigation.
Solutions and reforms: drip and sprinkler irrigation, concrete-lining canals, laser land levelling; cotton-textile and fruit-and-vegetable clusters that link growing → processing → export in one system; support for farmers and household (dehqon) farms.
Worked example
"A province harvested 600 thousand tonnes of wheat from 120 thousand hectares. Find the yield in centners per hectare."
Yield = gross harvest : area.
600 000 t : 120 000 ha = 5 t/ha.
1 tonne = 10 centners, so 5 t/ha = 50 c/ha.
Answer: 50 centners per hectare. Trap: do not mix up tonnes and centners.
Worked example
"Match: 1) rice; 2) karakul pelts; 3) pomegranates and persimmons; 4) silk cocoons. a) desert pastures of Bukhara and Navoi; b) Khorezm, Karakalpakstan; c) the Fergana Valley; d) Surkhandarya."
Rice — lots of water, lower river reaches → 1b.
Karakul — desert pastures → 2a.
Subtropical crops — the hottest south → 3d.
Cocoons — a valley rich in mulberry trees → 4c.
§5. The geography of world crop farming and livestock
Alongside Uzbekistan, the exam also asks about the world’s main crops and their leading producers. The distribution of each crop is explained by its climatic needs, so before memorising countries, answer the question “why here?”. Cereals — the largest share of the world’s cropland:
Wheat — a temperate crop; leading producers are China, India and Russia; major exporters include Russia, the USA, Canada and Australia.
Rice — needs heat, humidity and plenty of water; about 90 % of the world harvest comes from Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand).
Maize — the USA, China and Brazil; used for food, animal feed and biofuel.
Industrial and tropical crops:
Cotton — China, India, the USA, Brazil, Pakistan; Uzbekistan is also a traditional cotton grower.
Soya — Brazil, the USA, Argentina.
Sugar cane — Brazil and India (tropical); sugar beet — the temperate belt (Russia, France, the USA).
Coffee — Brazil (the world’s largest producer), Vietnam, Colombia; cocoa — Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana; tea — China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka.
Livestock: India and Brazil lead in cattle numbers; sheep farming — China and Australia; Australia and New Zealand are known for wool exports; pig farming — China (it is almost absent in Muslim countries).
Rule: crop geography is set first by heat and moisture, then by population density, markets and traditions
In addition, the share of the workforce in agriculture is a sign of development: about 2–5 % in developed countries but more than half in many African countries.
Worked example
“Match: 1) cocoa; 2) wool; 3) rice; 4) coffee. a) Australia; b) Côte d’Ivoire; c) Brazil; d) Bangladesh.”
Cocoa — the humid tropics of West Africa → 1b.
Wool — sheep farming on dry pastures → 2a.
Rice — hot, humid, densely populated South Asia → 3d.
Coffee — tropical plateaus, the largest producer → 4c.
Answer: 1b, 2a, 3d, 4c.
Check yourself
What is rain-fed (bogara) farming and where is it found?
Which crop's area was expanded after independence to achieve self-sufficiency?
What is special about the Karshi Main Canal?
Which reservoir is called the "Uzbek Sea"?
How does commercial farming differ from subsistence farming?
What is the essence of the cluster system?
A cotton area of 20,000 ha yields 35 c/ha. What is the gross harvest in tonnes?
Which continent produces most of the world’s rice?
Common mistakes
Linking karakul sheep with mountain areas (they graze desert pastures).
Naming Fergana as the main rice-growing area (it is mainly the lower Amu Darya).
Attributing the Great Fergana Canal to Mirzachul (it is in the Fergana Valley; Mirzachul has the South Mirzachul Canal).
Mixing up tonnes and centners when calculating yield (1 t = 10 c).
Linking subtropical crops with Khorezm (they belong to Surkhandarya).
Confusing sugar cane with sugar beet: the first is a tropical crop, the second a temperate one.