THE IMPACT OF SOVIET AGRARIAN POLICY ON IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE IN THE FERGANA VALLEY
Keywords:
Water management, irrigation, Fergana Valley, Turkestan, Soviet policy, cotton monopoly, War Communism, forced labor, agriculture, land committee, Kampirravot Dam, Yangiariq Canal, Andijonsoy, Shahrikhonsoy, Polomon, rural peasants, food requisitioning, farm properties, social stratification, impoverishment, hydraulic structure, land reclamation, rural associations, Irrigation Technical Committee, famine.Abstract
This article analyzes the policies and measures implemented in the field of water management and irrigated agriculture in the Fergana Valley during the years of Soviet rule, particularly between 1917 and 1922. It examines the nationalization of land and water resources by the Soviet government, the establishment of the cotton monopoly, the introduction of forced labor, and the negative effects of the policy of War Communism on agriculture. The study highlights the organization and restoration of irrigation systems, including the repair of major hydraulic structures such as the Kampirravot Dam, the Yangiariq Canal, and others. At the same time, it emphasizes the imposition of forced labor on the population, including the mobilization of women and children in collective work campaigns. Based on scholarly sources, the article explores the drastic decline in agricultural production, the deterioration of living standards, famine, and the intensification of resistance movements caused by political and economic instability as well as natural disasters. The study underscores the historical lessons of water management for independent Uzbekistan and provides scientific conclusions regarding its future prospects.
