BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 27
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
The sowing of sugar beets (93 percent of the allocated area), vegetables, melons and potatoes (85 percent) is nearing the end in Kazakhstan, whereas cotton and perennial (fodder) grasses were sown in full, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov said, Trend reports with reference to the ministry.
A total of 22.5 million ha of land were allocated for sowing this year in Kazakhstan, which is 238,000 more than in 2019. At the same time, special attention was paid to the diversification of the structure of sown areas in favor of highly profitable crops and crops for import substitution.
Areas for oilseeds were increased by 122,200 ha, for vegetables by 10,000 ha, for melons by 1,500 ha, for potatoes by 7,800 ha, for fodder crops by 308,600 ha, for sugar beets by 2,400 ha. All of this will allow to provide local market with agriculture goods and increase the volume of raw materials for processing ventures.
Omarov said that 9.6 million ha, or 65 percent of the allocated area, are now sown with grain and leguminous crops, 2.3 million hectares (76 percent of total allocated area) were sown with oilseeds. The sowing of sugar beets (93 percent of the designated area), vegetable, melons and potatoes (85 percent) is nearing completion. Sowing of cotton and perennial (fodder) grasses was completed.
The minister also said that a total of 2.5 million tons of seeds were prepared for the 2020 sowing, which covered the required volume. Additionally, almost 400,000 tons of cheapened diesel fuel were allocated for sowing, of which 259,000 tons (65 percent) were already received by the farmers.
Some 37 billion tenge ($89.7 million) were allocated for subsidizing pesticides, Omarov said.
“This will allow farmers to reimburse the purchase of 16.6 million liters of pesticides. For the first time ever subsidies will be allocated for not only herbicides but also other pesticides: fungicides and insecticides,” Omarov said.
A total of 26.2 billion tenge ($63.5 million) were allocated for subsidizing the purchase of mineral fertilizers by farmers. This will cover 522,000 tons of fertilizers, i.e. 120,000 tons more than last year.
Overall, Omarov said that despite the unprecedented conditions in which the sowing is taking place all conditions were created to support farmers. Sowing began in time and is ahead of last year's results.
“For the timely and high-quality implementation of the spring field work, all available resources and tools are used, which provides the prerequisites for the completion of the planned work in optimal agricultural terms,” the head of the Ministry of Agriculture said.
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