Kyrgyz Irrigation Technique - Irrigation
Irrigation
The Kyrgyz used techniques and methods of irrigation developed over many centuries, adapted to both the flat landscapes of lowlands and the high-altitude conditions. Irrigation channels were often laid at great heights, across slopes and rugged areas with rocky soil. Simple tools were used in the construction of ditches, such as tyapka ketmen, kayla, chukuldak, choku, lom, lopata kurok, as well as the horns of mountain goats kiyiktin muyuzy - with their help, they deepened the bottoms of the ditches and extracted stones.
Across ravines, the channel of the ditch was thrown over troughs noo, made from solid hollowed trunks, sometimes on supports turkuk (Kusheleva, 1890. p. 67). From large channels and ditches branched off small irrigation networks, directly connected to irrigated areas. The shortest ditch was called kol aryk, a longer one - ostyon, and wide channels that could freely accommodate the yoke moyunturuk were called alysh. The place on the bank of the ditch zhygaan, where one could direct the channel for irrigating a plot, was called kulak (RF IYAL NAK KR. A. Chorobaev. Inv. No. 5107). An experienced person kybacha led the laying of the ditches. To determine the optimal route of the flow, they used a donkey, which was sent down the slope of the mountain - along the line formed by sand spilling from the holes in the bags on its back, a channel was laid.
Irrigation networks were usually owned by individual households or communities, traditionally “the ditches and wells belong to those who first dug them with the sacrifice of an animal, although others deepened and corrected them” (Grodekov, 2011. p. 97). The channels were maintained by all water users - members of the community, which was considered an extremely important public matter. At the head of the work was murap - a person responsible for distribution. He was usually a physically strong, respected, and fair person who placed public interests above personal ones. It is no coincidence that the Kyrgyz proverb states: “Atan murap bolbosun, eginin suunun bashynda bolsun” (“Let your father not be murap, but let your crop be at the mouth of the water (i.e., among the first for irrigation)”). The work of cleaning the channels was accompanied by rituals. “At the head of the future ditch, a white mare or a cow, or several sheep were sacrificed.
The blood of the sacrificial animals was splashed along the route of the future ditch, and the meat was used to treat the participants of the work. The Kyrgyz attached exceptional importance to the repair of ditches. The banks of the ditches were a unique gathering and meeting place for all farmers after the long winter. The order of water use among the Kyrgyz varied in different territories. Thus, in the teit tribe, ... water was first given to the elders and those who held positions in society, as well as to the bai and large farmers” (Aitbaev, 1959. p. 256).
During the growing season, wheat was usually irrigated three times. The first irrigation kara suu - “black” (by the color of the underground waters filling the rivers) or “real” irrigation - was carried out in early spring: starting from the very last section pushta to the first one, which was closer to the water source. The second irrigation ak suu (“clean”, “transparent” - by the color of mineral-rich mountain streams fed by glaciers) occurred in late spring or early summer, and it went in reverse order. The third irrigation dan suu (dan - seed, grain) was carried out like kara suu. Millet was irrigated three times, and the irrigations were called: kara sugat, ekinchi sugat, dan sugat. Other grains were irrigated twice: kara sugat and zhelke sugat. In areas with a dry climate, for example, in the Uzgen region, irrigation of wheat with water collected from a stream in a reservoir with a small cover and a hole tygyn was known. This method nootu was used once a year at the end of May. The indicated technique was widely used in rain-fed areas with grain crops in the 19th - early 20th centuries.
The Kyrgyz irrigation technique was adopted by Russian peasant settlers who faced the need for artificial irrigation of fields in unfamiliar natural conditions. The Kyrgyz themselves also adopted new agricultural skills from the Slavic population, Uighurs, Dungans, Uzbeks, and other peoples - in particular, more advanced tools, experience in cultivating certain agricultural crops.
Agriculture among the Kyrgyz
