NEWS

Drip irrigation device

The Technology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan has developed an innovative drip irrigation injector that allows efficiently using water, boosts the growth of plant-associated microbes that convert the unavailable nutrients to available form and helps utilise many types of industrial emissions. The device is made of lump sulphur, activated carbon, metal shavings, river sand and fat-and-oil soapstock, or returnable industrial waste, and looks like a tube with tubules, which is buried deep to the base. The injector is connected to the water supply network and delivers moisture and nutrients directly to the root system. Thus, water does not directly come into contact with the above-ground parts of plants, which slows down decay and fungi reproduction. The Centre has also developed the composition of “eco-granules”, which to some extent contribute to land desalinization, the assimilation of necessary microelements by agricultural crops and the growth of useful soil microbes. The mixture is composed of calcined algae, trace elements of thermo-mineral water, slaked lime, zeolite and other additives, it is a waste material of cleaning reservoirs and canals and brings an additional amount of organic matter to areas under cultivation. The emulsion with the additive can be sprayed on plant stems. The authors of two inventions are scientists Meretmuhammet Hudayberdiye

21 July 2023

Ecology

Inside the UN goal to cut plastic pollution by 80% by 2040

Plastic pollution could be slashed by 80% by 2040, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Plastic pollution is a scourge that affects every part of the world, from the Arctic to the oceans, and the air we breathe. It’s even changing ecosystems. Scientists recently found rocks made from plastic on a remote Brazilian island and there is now so much plastic swirling in parts of the Pacific Ocean that communities of coastal creatures are thriving on it, thousands of miles from their home.

21 July 2023

Ecology

To Support Sustainable Development

“Her Land, Her Rights” was the theme of this year’s International Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which calls for women’s equal access to land and land-related assets – a direct investment in the future of their children and entire humanity. Thus, the international community indicates that it is time for women to be more actively involved in decision-making on land restoration and drought resilience. Desertification, drought and other factors of climate change are now familiar not only to arid territories, they have acquired the global status of factors that affect the system of international environmental security, the socioeconomic stability of agrarian regions of the planet and the development of countries with a hot climate. Scientists believe that in order to reduce the rate of desertification, it is necessary to perform reforestation, purified and desalinated water reuse, phyto-reclamation, soil enrichment and fertilisation and to promote natural land regeneration. The Ecological Day is associated with the adoption of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (June 17, 1994), which Turkmenistan ratified in 1996. A year later, it began to implement its own action programme, the range of tasks of which includes the rational use of pastures, the development of forestry, the afforestation of shifting sands, the improvement of the condition

23 June 2023

Ecology

Co-operation in ecology is one of the priority trends of Turkmenistan

Strategic partnership for the sake of global peace, progress and prosperity — this fundamental principle of the policy of positive neutrality pursued by our Esteemed President Serdar Berdimuhamedov is highly important today. Our Fatherland is making a significant contribution to the creation of new formats of relations that are in line with the spirit of the times and global development trends in the 21st century. In its foreign policy activities, Turkmenistan prioritizes the strengthening and expansion of cooperation with international structures, provides constant assistance in the implementation of decisions and agreements adopted by organizations of which it is a member. In this regard, fruitful co-operation of Turkmenistan with the United Nations Organization, which is built on the principles of strategic partnership and which has received new content at modern stage, is worth to be mentioned. At present time, our state is a member of number of structural divisions of the United Nations, under which it carries out its activity. Partnership with other big international and regional organizations is also developed steadily.

29 May 2023

Ecology

Ecology and Energy

Climate change is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Its most dire consequences can still be avoided if efforts are made to transform existing energy systems. In this regard, renewable energy sources (RES) have a great potential to replace greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion and thereby mitigate climate change impacts. When used properly, RES can contribute to social and economic growth, provide access to energy, ensure a reliable and sustainable energy supply and reduce the adverse environmental and health impacts of energy supplies.

29 April 2023

Ecology

Pomegranate tree in horticulture and wildlife

In the Middle Ages, travellers who set on a journey along long caravan routes across the desert took with them dates as food and quenched their thirst with pomegranate fruits, the properties of which were described by the chroniclers of Ancient Greece long before Ancient Rome was founded. Pomegranate is one of the oldest edible fruit known to the world, the tree is mentioned in sacred scriptures and considered a symbol of beauty and fertility, and its various parts were used for tanning leather and dyeing wool yarn and silk fabric. Today, in addition to horticulture, this species serves as an effective plant material for reforestation of flooded lands, consolidation of mountain slopes and river banks, and it is an excellent decorative element for any garden thanks to its attractive flowers and fruits. Currently, pomegranates in horticulture are found almost throughout the country, it is difficult to find a garden without this tree. In Turkmenistan, pomegranate farming is closely linked to the nature and culture of the inhabitants of the foothills of the Kopetdag Mountains, the hilly and mountainous territories of the Ahal oasis and the hilly subtropics of the Balkan velayat, where wild thickets of this plant have been preserved. Wild nar (pomegranate) can be found along the banks of the Sumbar River and the Chendyr River and in the valleys of the gorges Yoldere and Aydere and i

21 April 2023

Ecology

The Miracle of the Kopetdag Spring

High in the mountains, where spring comes late, the magical time, hidden from human eyes, continues and fascinates with the swiftness of the change in the variety of flowering herbaceous plants. This most wonderful period absorbed precious moments of vegetation of rare and endemic plants into short three or four weeks. The flowering parade of botanical rarities of the Kopetdag Mountains will flash by like a fast flowing mountain stream. First flowers – the heralds of spring – begin to open their petals on the hills of the foothills long before the onset of calendar spring, as if according to schedule, despite the ups and downs of the weather, sometimes they peep out from under the non-melted snow, therefore they are popularly called snowdrops. They symbolise the start of a new round of the annual cycle of nature and therefore deserve careful and caring attitude. It is the Merendera robusta that appears first: its flowers, pressed to the wet ground, look like large snowflakes or drops of milk and exude a subtle delicate aroma. In early spring, in the upper horizon of the mountains on the steep cliffs of the peaks, a rare plant awakens to life – a dense green “cushion” of the Dionysia tapetodes with a height of up to 20 cm. This is an amazing miracle of nature living on stones. Shortened shoots of the plant with inflorescences were laid already in the aut

14 April 2023

Ecology

Inhabitants of Karakum Lakes

According to one of the versions, the Karakum Desert “begins its lineage” from the ancient dried up Aral-Caspian Sea as part of the prehistoric Tethys Ocean, representing the seabed in the distant geological past. The second, river version, which many modern scientists follow after Academician V. A. Obruchev, says the Turan desert was built by the rivers that carried its debris from the southern mountain ranges, washed the soil, changing the course and forming a huge mass of sands. In any case, older marine sediments are buried under the river sands. Depressions, sinkholes, soil structural discontinuities and karst voids can be found in this multi-layered sandy ocean. All these sights together can be called a unique landscape monument. For example, the Sarykamysh depression and drainless Archakay depression located below the ocean level have become a well-known natural phenomenon like the deep Darvaza gas crater. For wildlife lovers, an unexpected discovery will be a trip to another depression located northwest of the Zengibaba chink. It is filled with weakly brackish drainage water coming from the Shasenem agricultural massif through the Malyab bypass canal, forming a chain of large and small lakes 15 kilometres long joined by channels.

31 March 2023

Ecology

3 million trees to be planted in Turkmenistan in 2023

«7/24. tm», № 10 (145), 06.03.2023 In 2023, it is planned to plant 3 million seedlings of trees and grapes in Turkmenistan. President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed the relevant Resolution as part of the implementation of the National Forestry Programme for 2021-2025.

5 March 2023

Ecology

Developing “Green” Energy

The main aspects of the state policy, pursued by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, are to ensure high economic growth rates through the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources, to create favourable conditions for the people and contribute to international efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Turkmenistan adopted the programme of digital transformation of science in 2020–2025 that sets the tasks of ensuring the integrity of science and education and the specificity and effectiveness of innovative projects developed in the country for the national economy. In this regard, tremendous attention is paid to training specialists who are able to develop science-intensive areas of applied research, to link an innovative idea with its practical application and to apply various modern technologies and methods in a useful way. For this purpose, the State Energy Institute of Turkmenistan trains specialists who are familiar with innovative technologies, purposeful and broad-minded, and this is intended to increase the number and diversify the areas of research activities, to improve their efficiency and to raise the necessity in them for the state and society. The joint use of research capacities of higher educational institutions, their interaction and the creation of favourable conditions for young researchers remain the focus of attention.

3 February 2023

Ecology