Kazakhstan Expands Water-Saving Irrigation to 702,300 Hectares
Kazakhstan has expanded the use of water-saving irrigation technologies to 702,300 hectares of irrigated farmland as of Sept. 1, 2026, nearly three times the area recorded in 2023, as the government seeks to improve agricultural water efficiency and reduce losses.
Modern irrigation systems covered 237,100 hectares in 2023, rising to 389,900 hectares in 2024 and 543,500 hectares in 2025 before reaching 702,300 hectares this year. Water-saving technologies now account for 36% of Kazakhstan’s 1.9 million hectares of irrigated farmland, according to the Prime Minister’s press service.
Drip irrigation has recorded the fastest expansion, increasing from 42,500 hectares in 2023 to 254,300 hectares in 2026. Sprinkler irrigation grew from 188,300 hectares to 379,000 hectares over the same period.
Since the beginning of 2026, drip irrigation systems have been introduced on 86,500 hectares, while sprinkler systems have been installed on an additional 65,900 hectares. The government plans to increase the total area covered by water-saving technologies to 912,200 hectares in 2027, 1.1 million hectares in 2028, 1.2 million hectares in 2029 and 1.3 million hectares by 2030.
At the planned 2030 level, water-saving irrigation technologies are expected to save up to 2.2 billion cubic meters of water annually. According to the government, modern irrigation systems can reduce water consumption by an average of 20-30%, although actual savings depend on crops, climate, soil, terrain and the condition of on-farm irrigation infrastructure.
In 2025, systems covering 543,500 hectares were estimated to have saved around 874 million cubic meters of irrigation water.
The expansion is focused on regions with extensive irrigated agriculture and high water demand. Of the additional 158,800 hectares brought under water-saving irrigation in 2026, around 50,000 hectares were in the Turkistan Region, 25,500 hectares in the Almaty Region, 19,200 hectares in the Kyzylorda Region, 11,800 hectares in the Zhetisu Region and 10,200 hectares in the Zhambyl Region.
The Zhambyl, Kyzylorda and Turkistan regions have been prioritized under government support measures. Together, they account for about 905,000 hectares of irrigated land and have significant dependence on transboundary water resources.
Other measures include laser field leveling, subsidies for electricity used to pump groundwater, moisture-charging irrigation and the washing of saline soils.
The expansion of modern irrigation is also driving demand for domestically produced equipment. The number of local manufacturers has increased from four to seven over the past two years. Three plants operate in the Turkistan Region, two in Astana, and one each in Almaty and the Atyrau Region.
Their combined capacity is 3,390 sprinkler machines annually, sufficient to irrigate about 205,000 hectares. Since the beginning of 2026, agricultural producers have purchased around 1,010 sprinkler machines for irrigation of 65,600 hectares.
Kazakhstan’s longer-term target is to bring 1.3 million hectares under water-saving irrigation by 2030, combining investment in irrigation infrastructure and domestic equipment production with efforts to reduce agricultural water consumption.
