Kazakh Farmers Anticipate Record Harvest for This Year
Kazakhstan plans to harvest a record-breaking 1.2 million tons of sugar beet this year, said Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov during an Oct. 14 meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The sides reviewed the results of the agricultural sector's development for the January to September period, as reported by Akorda.
According to Saparov, 98% of the harvested area has been completed, yielding a total of 25.2 million tons of grain, with an average yield of 15.5 centners per hectare. Farmers also anticipate a strong harvest of forage crops.
Efforts to enhance financing for sowing and harvesting have led to a threefold increase in allocated funds, reaching 580 billion tenge (approximately US$1.2 billion) at a 5% interest rate without subsidies for farmers. Saparov indicated that by 2025, this amount is expected to increase to 900 billion tenge (about US$1.85 billion), which will include 200 billion tenge (approximately US$411.7 million) earmarked for preferential leasing of agricultural machinery. Additionally, changes have been made to state support mechanisms to optimize the use of preferential loans and mitigate corruption risks.
From January to September, more than 796,000 tons of meat were produced, representing a 4.5% increase compared to the previous year, while milk production rose by 4.2% to 2.8 million tons.
