ABSTRACT
Five countries in Central Asia have a total land area of about 400 million hectare (Mha), population of about 60 million, arable land area of 32.6 Mha, and average per capita arable land area of 0.55 ha (Table 1). The population growth rate ranges from 1.2% yr−1 to 3.0% yr−1 of the total land area of 400 Mha, about 148 Mha or 37.0% is desert (Table 2). Desert area, as a percent of total land area, is 27.5% in Kazakhstan, 35.4% in Kyrgyzstan 17.5% in Tajikistan, 79.3% in Turkmenistan and 55.7% in Uzbekistan.
