Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.2
By Rashid Shirinov – Trend:
Summer drought in western Kazakhstan and the high humidity is high in the center and north affected the volumes of grain harvest in the country's regions.
Harvesting began unconventionally late in the main grain-growing regions of Kazakhstan, but the favorable weather of the last two weeks allowed to catch up on the missed deadlines, Khabar 24 reported.
This year, 15 million hectares of land were allocated for grain. As much as 64 percent of the crop has been harvested In the Karaganda region, 82 percent in Akmola, and 92 percent in Kostanay region. In North Kazakhstan, 8,000 combines have been mobilized and have already completed 83 percent of the work.
"All farms attract all available equipment. There have been no problems with machinery," said Kuandyk Shakubaev, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of North Kazakhstan region.
He also noted that the government additionally allocates diesel fuel for drying in the region.
"About 14,000 tons will be provided to farms that have grain dryers, as well as licensed elevators."
In the meantime, there is lack of water in the western Kazakhstan. Because of the summer drought, the yield is twice less than last year.
"Due to the certain aridity this year, 31,400 hectares were written off from agricultural producers. Those who insured receive insurance in accordance with the approved standard," said Kuanyshkali Yesimov, Head of the Department of Agriculture.
Nevertheless, the weather allows to demonstrate the effectiveness of modern agricultural technologies. In the experimental fields of nine farms in Kazakhstan included in the pilot project on precision agriculture, the yield is at least 30 percent higher.
The highest average yield this year – 17 centners per hectare – is observed in the North Kazakhstan region. Twelve centners are harvested in Karaganda and Akmola regions, followed by Kostanay with 11 centners.
It should be noted that in its August report, the International Grains Council (IGC) raised the forecast for grain production in Kazakhstan in 2018-19 marketing year to 18.6 million tons. In 2017-18 MY the harvest amounted to 19.3 million tons, and a year earlier, local farmers collected 19.4 million tons from the fields.
The volume of grain supply in Kazakhstan in the forecast period will drop to 22 million tons compared to 2017-18 MY (23 million tons). Export supplies of grain in 2018-19 MY, according to the IGC report, will decrease by 0.5 million tons compared to last year to 9.2 million tons.