Baku, Azerbaijan, April 24
Trend:
First Vice-Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Arman Evniev spoke about the main advantages of the Meat and Animal Breeding Development Program proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture for 2018-2027, Kazakh media reported.
"For today, all the necessary resources for the development of this sector are sufficient, the area of pasture land is 180 million hectares, and by this indicator we hold the fifth place in the world. The area of pastures is sufficient to increase cattle by 2 times. There are water resources for irrigation of 2 million hectares of land, in rural areas there are 50% of the population. This means that most rural residents will be provided with work under the program," he said at a government meeting.
According to Evniev, the program will provide a number of advantages for the industry as a whole.
"The implementation of the program will create a new class of livestock farmers and ensure the growth of farms from 20,000 to 100,000 within the program, providing jobs from 100,000 to 500,000 rural residents, increasing cattle numbers from 7 million to 15 million, increasing lamb production and beef - from 600,000 tons to 1.6 million tons, increase in export earnings - up to $2.4 billion, increase in labor productivity per one worker - from $1,000 to $8,000," Evniev noted.
He also stressed that the farms will be the basis of the production model within the program.
"They will unite in sales, training, veterinary services. An indispensable condition for the implementation of this program is the breed improvement in livestock using the genetics of pedigree animal feed production, including the focus on fattening areas of irrigated land," the vice-minister added.
Evniev also listed factors that give confidence in the successful outcome of the program.
"First of all, we see a high potential for the development of beef cattle and sheep breeding. Our main advantages are vast pasture lands, irrigated lands and centuries-old traditions of livestock breeding," he concluded.