ASTANA — The Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture plays an important role in the country’s economy, ensuring food security, promoting sustainable regional development, and creating jobs.
Photo credit: agbz.kz
The Prime Minister’s press service continues to review the work of the country’s ministries in the first half-year.
The state supports the agriculture industry by providing preferential financing, subsidies and other measures to increase the competitiveness of agricultural products in the domestic and foreign markets.
Kazakhstan’s gross agricultural output in the first half of this year reached 1.6 trillion tenge (US$3.4 billion). This growth is driven by a 3.5% increase in livestock farming and a 3% increase in crop production.
Meat production in live weight increased by 4.1%, reaching 878,700 tons. Milk production increased by 4.8%, amounting to 1.7 million tons, and the production of chicken eggs increased by 0.3% to 2.1 billion pieces.
Also, in the first half of the year, the production of cheese and cottage cheese increased by 16.8%, processed rice by 11%, vegetable oil by 9.3%, and fermented milk products by 5.6%.
Crop production’s gross output totaled 72 billion tenge (US$151.8 million), 3% more than last year. Early vegetable and grain crop production made the most significant contribution to expansion.
The volume of investments in fixed capital in food production increased by 5.4% to 68.7 billion tenge (US$144.8 million) compared to the same period last year.
For the first time, the total lending volume for spring field and harvesting work was increased to 580 billion tenge (US$1.2 billion).
Another critical factor in increasing crop yields is the use of high-quality seeds. This year, the percentage of elite varieties increased to 9%, 1.9% higher than in 2023.
The government has approved a comprehensive plan for the development of processing until 2028, with the goal of increasing the share of processed products to 70% of the produced raw materials. It is planned to allocate 372 billion tenge (US$784.3 million) for its implementation.
