A workshop entitled “JIRCAS Research on Measures Against Salinization” was held in Toshkent City, Uzbekistan on March 12, 2017. JIRCAS has been carrying out a “Survey on Countermeasures against Salt Damage of Agricultural Lands by Controlling Groundwater” with subsidies from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) since FY2013. In this study, the groundwater and soil salinity behavior in salt-damaged farmland in Uzbekistan were investigated and the improvement effect of leaching by shallow underdrain using a drilled underdrain (cut drain) developed in Japan was verified. The workshop was organized as a culminating activity of the study and for sharing of results obtained from previous surveys. 

This workshop was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan, Farmers Council of Uzbekistan, National Water Research Center of the USA, University of Gulistan, and organizations involved in salt damage control. From the Japanese side, three JIRCAS staff and one from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Overseas Land Improvement Cooperation Office participated in the workshop.