After nearly three years of using a precision irrigation system, a fruit producer in southern Uzbekistan reports water savings of 20–40% and roughly comparable reductions in electricity used for irrigation. The farm also recorded a high share of premium fruit this season. Its agronomist cautions, however, that irrigation alone cannot explain the quality or yield of the crop, EastFruit reports.
S-AGRO TERMIZ ORCHARDS operates 100 hectares of intensive orchards in the Termez district of Surxondaryo, one of Uzbekistan’s hottest regions. Planted in 2022, the orchards mainly produce early apricots, sweet cherries, nectarines and flat peaches. The company is now part of UNIAGRI GROUP.
Agronomist Nodirbek Tursunboev, who has worked with the T-Irrigate system at the farm, shared the results with EastFruit. When the project was first covered in 2023, the equipment had been operating for only about two months—too short a period to assess its effect reliably.
A more precise answer to when and how much to irrigate
The farm’s aim was to make two recurring decisions more accurately: when to start irrigation and how much water to apply. Too little water can stress trees and affect fruit development. Too much wastes water and pumping energy and may create unfavourable conditions around the roots.
T-Irrigate monitors soil moisture at depths of 20, 40, 60 and 80 centimetres. T-weather stations add measurements including temperature, humidity, rainfall, solar radiation, wind and evapotranspiration. The system turns these readings into recommendations; the agronomist makes the final irrigation decision.
According to Tursunboev, the farm estimates water savings of 20–40%, with a broadly similar reduction in electricity used for irrigation. The comparison concerns orchards already using above-ground drip irrigation: the reported additional saving comes from managing that system more precisely, rather than switching from conventional irrigation to drip irrigation.
Pumping less water also means running pumps for less time. EastFruit estimates, using a product life-cycle model, that a 30% reduction in orchard water use could reduce the carbon footprint per tonne of finished fruit by approximately 25%. This is a modelled estimate, not a measured carbon-footprint result from the farm.
The data have a financial use as well. Tursunboev says forecasts of daily water demand help the business anticipate electricity needs and plan advance payments during the periods of heaviest irrigation.
Fruit quality—and the limits of attribution
Water requirements change as trees move through flowering, fruit development, harvest and preparation for dormancy. Tursunboev says carefully reducing irrigation in autumn is particularly important for flat peaches and nectarines: continued vegetative growth can interfere with preparation for the following season.
This season, around 80% of the farm’s harvest was large, first-grade fruit, according to the agronomist; almost all the remainder was second-grade. The company also reports improved keeping quality. Tursunboev considers precise irrigation one contributor to these results. Nutrition, crop protection, weather, pruning and other management decisions also affect fruit quality.
Yield has increased as the orchard has matured, but the farm has not measured how much of that increase, if any, is attributable specifically to T-Irrigate. The trees were about 18 months old when the system was installed and are now approximately four and a half years old.
Tursunboev points instead to a change the team can observe in day-to-day management: fewer instances of water stress during the hottest parts of summer and greater control over excessive irrigation.
Where does the investment make sense?
The system gives staff a common set of measurements when deciding whether an irrigation cycle should last one hour, four hours or longer. It supports the agronomist’s judgement rather than replacing it. Tursunboev says the farm has not needed a dedicated employee to operate it and has encountered no major technical difficulties.
In his assessment, equipment, installation and annual support costs make a system of this kind most suitable for fruit farms larger than 10 hectares. Smaller orchards may be able to monitor soil moisture adequately with simpler, less costly tools. Farms growing several fruit crops, meanwhile, need separate irrigation settings because their water requirements differ.
For S-AGRO TERMIZ ORCHARDS, the value lies in managing several linked risks: water scarcity, extreme summer heat, pumping costs and inconsistent fruit quality. Its experience offers a practical example of what more precise irrigation can contribute, while leaving room for farm-level measurements to establish the size of each benefit independently.
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