A. Myrzakhmetov holds a meeting in Kostanay on the preparations of northern regions for the harvest season

On the instruction of the Head of State, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Askar Myrzakhmetov visited Kostanay region on a working trip, within the framework of which he held a group conference on the preparations for the harvest campaign and the development of small-scale agricultural mechanization, according to the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The meeting saw participation of Deputy Akims, representatives of agricultural holdings, agrarian scientists and agricultural producers of Akmola, North Kazakhstan and Kostanay regions.

First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Kairat Aituganov elaborated on the progress of preparations for this year’s harvest works. He noted that in the current year the total area under crops amounted to 22.1 million hectares, which is 651 thousand hectares more than last year.

“This year launched effective diversification of crop areas within the framework of the AIC Development State Program. Its implementation was positively influenced by changes in the subsidy mechanism for the production of priority crops,” – K. Aituganov noted.

He stressed that measures adopted in 2017 resulted in a 1.5 increase in the sowing of high quality seeds. The use of high quality seeds grew 68%, and the use of low quality seeds was reduced 1.6 times. The mechanism for subsidizing fertilizers was also changed, which allowed farmers choosing fertilizers according to quality and price regardless of the country of origin and expanding the assortment of used fertilizers.

In addition particular attention is paid to phytosanitary safety of crops. This year, measures have been taken to as fully as possible cover cereal crops with disease-preventing treatment. As a whole, the yield of cereal grains in the current year in the Republic is forecasted at an average of 12.6 centner/hectare, the gross grain harvest will be 19.2 million tonnes.

The necessary volume of diesel fuel in the amount of 393.9 thousand tonnes was allocated for the autumn field works in the Republic. Presently, harvest work is underway in Almaty, Aktobe, East Kazakhstan, West Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, and South Kazakhstan regions. As of August 15, 38% of areas have been harvested, 1.7 million tonnes of grain at the initial weight were threshed, the average yield was 20.2 centner/hectare.

Following the meeting, the Akims of regions were instructed to assist agricultural producers in solving issues related to the supply of financial, commodity and physical resources, as well as in the timely preparation of equipment for conducting harvest works, and in assisting economic entities to complete preparations of storage tanks and threshing farms.

In addition, as part of the working trip, A. Myrzakhmetov visited the Kazakh Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture, where he familiarized himself with new types of agricultural equipment. He noted that this year, through the NMH KazAgro JSC, a program of concessional lending is being implemented for leasing hinged and trailed agricultural machinery of domestic production (small-scale mechanization) for leasing. For these purposes, financial resources amounting to 5 billion tenge are allocated, with the following leasing terms:  5.5%, for a period of 7-10 years.

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