Philosophische Fakultät - Jahrgang 2008

Titel

Cotton, Rice & Water

Autor

Geert Jan Albert Veldwisch

Publikationsform

Dissertation

Abstract

This study is about the organisation of agricultural production and the distribution of water for agriculture in the post-soviet context of a slowly reforming authoritarian regime. The study is based on 12 months of field research conducted between February 2005 and October 2006 in the irrigation and drainage network of Khorezm province, Uzbekistan. Four WUAs were selected as case studies. The concrete methods deployed for the fieldwork were (1) direct observations of objects, events, procedures, and social interactions; (2) semi- and non-structured interviews with key informants; and (3) a household survey.
The studied situation is characterised by reforms that echo the sound of privatisation and neo-liberal reform, while in practice central planning and state control have shown to be persistent, though not unchanging. By moving from collective farming to household-based fermer enterprises, for the individual risks and benefits in agricultural production have increased. The logics of agricultural production are further discussed along the lines of the three forms of production that were distinguished in this study. They are the state-ordered form of production (of cotton and wheat), the commercial form of production (of mainly rice and fodder) and the household form of production (of a variety of food products for home consumption). Each form of production has its specific form of organisation of inputs, labour, state control, distribution of benefits, and marketing. more...

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