Kazakhstan sees rise in agricultural production
By Sara Rajabova
The Kazakh government has observed an increase in agricultural production during recent years.
Asylzhan Mamytbekov, the country’s agriculture minister said agricultural production has doubled in Kazakhstan over the last five years, Kazakh media reported.
He further noted that agricultural exports over the past five years have grown 1.6-fold, up to $3 billion.
“Investments in fixed capital in agriculture have reached $1 billion, a growth of over 16-percent. It is the highest growth among all economic sectors. Today entrepreneurs are interested in doing business in agriculture,” Mamytbekov said.
He emphasized the necessity of overseeing the effective use of land resources in Kazakhstan. "Only 25 million hectares of the country’s total 35 million hectares of arable land are used today, and the average wheat yield of 1,140 kilograms per hectare is considered to be a low harvest," he underscored.
Kazakhstan is an important producer and exporter of high-quality wheat. The average annual production stands at about 13 million tons, but output is highly dependent on weather and in recent years has fluctuated between 10 and 17 million tons.
However, agriculture in Kazakhstan still remains a small scale sector of Kazakhstan's economy. Agriculture's contribution to the GDP remains under 10 percent, occupying only 20 percent of labor. At the same time, more than 70 percent of its land is occupied by crops and animal husbandry.
Meanwhile, Rauan Shayekin, Kazakh parliament member said the government will allocate 500 billion tenge (around $2.7 billion) to finance agro-industrial enterprises in Kazakhstan.
"As part of this program, government financing covered 292 entities and amounted to 312 billion tenge. Following the head of state’s instruction, the amount will be increased to 500 billion tenge," Shayekin confirmed.
The "Agribusiness 2020" program of agricultural development for 2013-2020 was approved in 2012 and includes all types of government support, according to him.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the government in February to continue implementing this program as part of Kazakhstan’s anti-crisis measures and to increase the funding of agribusiness entities.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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