Economic Evaluation of the Resource-Saving Technologies in Non-irrigated Lands

Conservation agriculture (CA) is especially relevant for Uzbekistan’s agriculture, particularly in non-irrigated lands where soil fertility has been steadily declining and the risk of crop failure has been growing. CA has three main characterizations given in scientific literature, which are the minimal soil disturbance, crop rotation and surface crop residue retention. Nowadays, the majority of farmers are not widely using CA in their agricultural practices in Uzbekistan. Maybe, this is due to different perception of the economic efficiency of CA. The objective of the research was to calculate economic efficiency of CA in non-irrigated lands and to show whether it is effective or not in agricultural production. To achieve this objective, literature review including a variety of secondary data is employed. Overall, the costs of labor and fuel consumption per ha at CA technology are less in comparison with conventional technology. Using CA practices gives a chance to increase labour productivity, to use resource effectively and to improve soil quality and crop diversification.