Work underway in Kazakhstan to saturate domestic market with basic products for stabilizing prices — Ministry of Agriculture

At a government session chaired by Prime Minister Askar Mamin, the issue of providing the domestic market with food was considered. Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov made a report on the measures taken to ensure the production, storage and supply of products to all regions.

According to the minister, in order to stabilize food prices, the Ministry of Agriculture is working to saturate the domestic market for the main 29 commodity items.

At the same time, for 12 products, the supply of the domestic market is 100% or more. For 11 products — 80% or more. And work on import substitution is being carried out on 6 foodstuffs.

“In order to saturate the domestic market with crop products, crops for demanded crops were expanded by 439.2 thousand hectares. The total sown area of ​​crops was increased to 22.7 million hectares. It is planned to harvest 18 million tons of grain crops, which will be enough to ensure the domestic market and realize the export potential,” said Omarov.

The gross harvest of oilseeds is expected to be 2.6 million tons, which is 100 thousand tons more than last year. Also, the production volumes of potatoes and vegetables and melons will be increased to 4 million tons and 6.8 million tons, respectively.

To saturate the domestic market with livestock products, the minister noted, an increase in the number of farm animals is ensured. For 7 months of 2020, there is an increase in the livestock of cattle by 5%, small cattle — 2%, horses — by 9%. There is an increase in processed products: flour by 6.4%, vegetable oil by 1.8%, pasta by 8.4%, poultry meat by 12.3%, sour milk products by 4.7%, butter by 12.9 %, sausages by 22.8%.

“To ensure the growth of additional production of foodstuffs, a number of new investment projects will be introduced by the end of the year. For example, by the end of the year the volume of poultry meat production will be increased by 75 thousand tons or 25%. This will be achieved through the commissioning of 8 new poultry farms by the end of the year. Two of them have already been launched,” Omarov informed.

An increase in milk production is also planned. By the end of the year, 25 industrial dairy farms will be commissioned with an additional volume of milk by 112 thousand tons. 6 investment projects have already been introduced.

In addition, by the end of the year, it is planned to commission 3 new meat processing plants with a capacity of 45 thousand tons. To provide the population with apples, it is planned to establish 2 thousand hectares of intensive apple orchards, which can yield a harvest of 68 thousand tons, 1,700 hectares have already been allocated for this.

For the production of sugar, work has begun on the construction of a new plant in the Zhambyl region, the area for sugar beets has been increased to 20.5 thousand hectares, and the existing sugar factories in the Almaty region are being modernized.

The minister also informed about the ongoing monitoring of food security in the regions by assessing stocks.

“Reserves of the government for 16 types of food products have been formed. For these purposes, 16.7 billion tenge was allocated, which made it possible to purchase 43.5 thousand tons of food,” Omarov said.

According to the operational data of the akimats, there are stocks in the republic in the total volume of 619.2 thousand tons of socially significant foodstuffs and 318.6 million eggs.

Since the beginning of this year 38.3 thousand tons of socially important foodstuffs were sold from stocks of stabilization funds.

“At the same time, 38.2 thousand tons of food were purchased for the stabilization funds, including flour — 21.2 thousand tons, sugar — 6.5 thousand tons, potatoes — 3.1 thousand tons, pasta — 2 thousand tons, rice — 1.7 thousand tons, buckwheat groats — 0.7 thousand tons and other types of food,” the minister said.

At present, the stabilization funds store 27.7 thousand tons of socially significant food products, including flour — 12.5 thousand tons, sugar — 7.9 thousand tons, pasta — 1.7 thousand tons, rice — 1.4 thousand tons, vegetable oil — 1.3 thousand tons and other types.

In addition, forward contracts were signed for the supply of 21 thousand tons of socially important foodstuffs, including the supply of 9.1 thousand tons of potatoes, 3 thousand tons of onions, 2.5 thousand tons of carrots, 2 thousand tons of sugar and others. types of goods.

Within the framework of the reverse scheme, the volume of socially significant food products was contracted in the amount of 8.8 billion tenge.

“Taking into account the coming harvest period and acceptable prices for most socially significant foodstuffs, regional akimats need to work on the formation of stabilization funds,” the minister stressed.

In the regions, intensive work is also underway to monitor the situation, the sufficiency of food supplies and the stability of prices for socially important goods.

As the akim of the Akmola Region Yermek Marzhikpaev informed, for 8 months of 2020 the inflation rate in the region was 4.3%, including for food products — 7.3%. In annual terms, inflation was 6.8%. The price index for socially significant food products amounted to 103.2%. A package of short- and medium-term measures to stabilize prices for socially significant food products was adopted. Prices are monitored daily. Since the beginning of the year, 1,087 memorandums have been concluded, 175 agricultural fairs have been held, and the goods of the regional stabilization fund are being sold.

In January-August 2020, the production of local food products amounted to 73 billion tenge, an increase of 9.4% compared to the period of last year. The production of meat (111.4%), poultry meat (128.3%), sunflower oil (31.7%), cheese (15%), flour (124.8%) and other goods increased significantly.

The stabilization fund of SEC KOKSHE contains 1,705 tons of socially important food products (rice, buckwheat groats, sugar, first grade flour, butter and sunflower oil), they are being sold.

In order to increase the stabilization fund, an additional purchase is planned, including of potatoes and carrots from the 2020 harvest. For these purposes, 750 million tenge was allocated from the local budget this year.

As part of the reverse scheme, a loan in the amount of 315.1 million tenge was approved for the sale of socially significant food products at fixed reduced prices. The formation of contracts is currently underway.

In addition, SPK KOKSHE has begun construction of 3 trade pavilions in the city of Kokshetau to reduce prices for socially significant food products. Two pavilions will be commissioned by the end of this year. Stocks of socially significant food products are 27.3 thousand tons.

“Provision of the region in socially significant food products on average 40 days, depending on the product. The sale of goods is carried out without interruptions, there is no shortage of goods and a rush of demand in the region,” Marzhikpaev reported.

In the North Kazakhstan region, as the Akim Kumar Aksakalov noted, constant monitoring is also conducted to stabilize prices.

"If necessary, a commodity intervention is carried out from the stabilization fund, where there are 3,150 tons of products in stock," Aksakalov informed.

Nearly 150 tons of buckwheat groats have been purchased, 4 wagons (207,972 liters) of sunflower oil, 200 tons of carrots, 200 tons of cabbage. It is also planned to purchase potatoes (500 tons), onions (200 tons), rice (68 tons), horns (100 tons), salt (66 tons), chicken legs (50 tons). Almost all products are purchased from local producers.

“Out of 19 types of socially significant food products, 15 are produced in the region, of which we provide ourselves with 11 species for 100%. Producers of social bread are provided with first-grade flour, third-class wheat at reduced prices. Today the cost of social bread is 61 tenge,” the akim said.

In addition, according to Aksakalov, within the framework of the import substitution program, the sowing of buckwheat has been increased by 2.5 times, and peas by a third. For the cultivation of vegetable crops, it is planned to build a greenhouse complex by investors for 3.5 billion tenge.

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