At the Government session, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov instructed to ensure the timely and high-quality conduct of the harvesting campaign. Work is actively underway across the country, with harvesting in the southern regions already nearing completion. Preliminary results of the harvest are assessed positively.

“In his Address to the people of Kazakhstan, the Head of State emphasized the importance of increasing the country’s food self-sufficiency and reducing dependence on imports. One of the key conditions for achieving this task is the high-quality conduct of the harvesting campaign. The Government has created all the necessary conditions for organizing the full cycle of fieldwork. Significant volumes of financing have been allocated. Measures have been taken to improve the material and technical support for farmers. It is extremely important to complete the harvesting work on time. The Head of State stressed this last week during a meeting with agricultural producers,” Olzhas Bektenov said.

Attention was given to the issue of fuel supplies. The entire required volume must be shipped in accordance with the current schedule, emphasized the Prime Minister.

In addition, a number of issues concerning Kazakhstani farmers were raised. In particular, the risks of prolonged rainfall and falling temperatures may complicate the timing of the harvest and the quality of the grain. About 500 appeals have already been submitted to the E-Ötinish system on this issue, the largest number of them—more than 300 applications—coming from Kostanay Region farmers. In these, agricultural producers complain about problems launching drying equipment and grain purchase prices. The Kostanay Region akimat and the Ministry of Agriculture were instructed to assist in solving this problem. Together with the Ministry of Energy, akimats must additionally provide the allocation of liquefied gas and diesel fuel for grain drying in accordance with the declared demand.

Special attention should be paid to the grain drying process in all northern regions. Worsening weather should not affect the pace of harvesting, quality, or volume of the crop, emphasized Olzhas Bektenov. The Ministry of Ecology must ensure daily updates for farmers on weather forecasts.

The focus was placed on strict control over transport accessibility. The transportation of the harvest from fields to destinations must be organized at a high level. The Prime Minister instructed to engage the necessary fleet of wagons and eliminate downtime and delays at all stages of logistics.

The issue of marketing domestic products requires a systemic approach. The priority task is to increase the competitiveness of domestic products both in the domestic and foreign markets. For this, support must be provided to domestic producers throughout the supply chain.

In addition, it is necessary to ensure maximum accuracy and transparency of the work carried out to support agricultural producers in order to increase the competitiveness of domestic products on domestic and foreign markets.

The use of digital solutions must be expanded for forecasting climate risks, calculating yield volumes, and monitoring market prices. The application of AI must be directed at optimizing processes of harvesting, storage of products, and machinery management. Overall, digitalization should ensure precise and timely accounting of food reserves.

Based on the review of the harvesting campaign in Kazakhstan, the Prime Minister gave a number of instructions to relevant ministries and akimats.

• The Ministry of Agriculture, together with regional akimats, must ensure the timely reception and drying of the new crop grain at elevators. Storage infrastructure must be fully utilized.

• Unjustified increases in storage service prices, including for fruit and vegetable products, are unacceptable. If necessary, the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition should be involved in this work.

• The Ministry of Transport, together with KTZ, must ensure a sufficient number of grain wagons and cargo vehicles for transporting the harvest. Coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture must be established to synchronize harvesting and transportation schedules.

• Amid mass grain harvesting, reserves of food products must be formed. Regional akimats must ensure the conclusion of contracts for the supply of basic types of vegetable products in sufficient volumes by the end of September.

• The Ministry of Trade must take measures to prevent inefficient intermediaries from entering the price formation chain for agricultural products and ensure the sale of the harvest on fair terms for farmers.

• At the same time, unjustified increases in prices for staple food products must be prevented. The Ministry of Trade, together with akimats, must use all available tools for price regulation and establish strict control.

• The Ministry of Agriculture, together with regional akimats, must ensure quality control of the harvesting campaign, including within the framework of the Government’s Operational Headquarters.

Overall coordination is assigned to Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin.

#Olzhas Bektenov #Agroindustrial complex #Government session #Harvest #President's instruction

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