ASTANA – Despite poor weather conditions, Kazakhstan expects 16 million tons of gross grain harvest this year, which, along with three million tons of transitional reserves, is enough to satisfy the country’s demand for bread and flour, said Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov at a Nov. 7 government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.
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According to Saparov, the total cultivated area for crops in the current year reached 24 million hectares, 652,000 more than in 2022.
Besides that, Kazakhstan has collected three million tons of vegetables, 3.5 million tons of potatoes, and 1.6 million tons of oilseeds.
Prime Minister Smailov emphasized that the current year was challenging for farmers due to a hot and dry summer negatively impacting grain crops’ growth. Frequent and heavy rainfall further reduced yields and deteriorated grain quality.
However, he assured that the population would not face a shortage of bread due to carryover reserves from the previous year.
Saparov noted that 426,000 tons of discounted diesel fuel for 250 tenge ($0.54) per liter were allocated to agricultural organizations to support timely harvesting. An additional 62,500 tons of this fuel were designated for grain and oilseed drying.
Fair purchase prices and credit extensions without penalties were also among the support measures provided to domestic farmers, the Prime Minister highlighted.
He added the government allocated the first 30 billion tenge ($64.4 million) for crop subsidies and made decisions to allocate funds for the direct purchase of wheat.
