“We are working with our local partners to expand cooperation on science and technology issues, building on our 2010 U.S.-Uzbekistan Science and Technology Agreement,” the US official said.

“For example, a team of researchers from both the U.S. and Uzbekistan is working with farmers in the Aral Sea basin and Kyzylkum desert to explore how the use of halophytes – salt loving plants – may be able to restore marginalized, salinized farmland and act as a source for biofuel production,” he underlined.