Cotton and Irrigation
The Soviets aimed to transform Central Asia into a major cotton-producing region, despite the area's arid climate. This effort involved extensive irrigation projects that diverted water from local rivers, yet these initiatives were plagued by inefficiencies, with significant water loss due to leakage and evaporation. Historical precedents existed for water diversion in the region, but the scale and methods employed by the Soviets were unprecedented and often wasteful.In this clip
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