Total Sown Area This Year Will Exceed 23.8 Million Hectares

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Azat Sultanov reported at the Government session on the progress of spring field works and measures to provide agricultural producers with necessary resources, primeminister.kz reports.

In particular, he noted that since the beginning of the year, the issue of high-quality and timely spring field works has been under special control of the Ministry, and all problematic issues are being considered at meetings of the Operational Headquarters.

According to the Deputy Minister, the structure of sown areas has been formed jointly with the akimats. The total area amounts to 23.8 million hectares, which is 180 thousand hectares more than last year. Priority is given to high-margin crops: areas under oilseeds will exceed 4 million hectares, and under fodder crops — 3.3 million hectares. To provide raw materials for corn processing projects, corn sowing areas will be expanded to 265 thousand hectares. To saturate the domestic market, potato planting areas in organized farms will be increased by 10 thousand hectares. Azat Sultanov emphasized that this structure will fully meet domestic needs and reduce risks associated with price fluctuations.

Work on diversification continues: grain areas have been reduced by 127 thousand hectares. In order to reduce the burden on water resources, rice and cotton areas are being optimized. For the first time, the structure of sown areas has been approved in accordance with the actual water limit: rice area has been reduced by 20.2 thousand hectares, while areas under cotton with drip irrigation have been increased by 29.8 thousand hectares, with a reduction in traditional irrigation methods by 12 thousand hectares.

The Deputy Minister informed that sowing has already begun in almost all regions. More than 2 million hectares have been sown, including grains, oilseeds, fodder, vegetable and melon crops, and potatoes. The condition of 94% of winter crops is assessed as optimal.

He also reported on the development of a digital platform for monitoring the progress of the campaign, which is currently operating in pilot mode. In the future, it is planned to introduce elements of artificial intelligence for process forecasting.

Regarding technical equipment, Azat Sultanov noted that agricultural machinery is fully ready. Last year, the fleet renewal rate reached 6.5%, with a target of 8% this year. State support measures are focused on domestic producers: the reimbursement share for the purchase of Kazakhstani machinery is 30%. Thanks to this, agricultural machinery production grew by 22% over the year, and such global brands as Claas and John Deere entered the market. 402 thousand tons of preferential diesel fuel have been allocated for the works, more than half of which has already been shipped.

Regarding seed material, the Vice Minister noted that the demand for 2.3 million tons has been fully met. From this year, a new mechanism for subsidizing seeds with priority for domestic entities has come into force. At the same time, he reminded that seed testing at the expense of the state has been cancelled — farmers must now conduct it at their own expense.

On mineral fertilizers, it was reported that 2.3 million tons are planned to be applied this year. As of now, 1.1 million tons have been shipped. Despite the rise in world prices, fertilizer prices on the domestic market were fixed at the beginning of the year.

In addition, early preparation for the harvest is underway. From April, applications for preferential financing for the construction and modernization of elevators have begun. With full financing, storage capacity is planned to be expanded by 1 million tons.

The Deputy Minister emphasized that akimats must keep under control the readiness of machinery, timely shipment of fuel and lubricants, seed examination, and contracting for fertilizer supply in order to complete sowing within optimal agrotechnical deadlines.