BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 19
Trend:
The cotton harvesting is nearing completion in Kazakhstan, Trend reports citing Kazinform.
“Currently, 316,000 tons of raw cotton have been harvested, or 95 percent of the planned volume. The average yield was 24.3 c / ha. Some 84 percent of the crop has been harvested using combines,” said the report.
In terms of yield, the leaders are Ordabasy (30.2 c / ha) and Maktaaral (25.0 c / ha) districts of the Turkestan region, the report said.
Cotton growers hand over the grown products at 166 collection points of 18 cotton processing plants.
“In 2020, due to diversification, the sown area for cotton crops has been reduced by almost 5,500 hectares - from 131,200 to 125,800 hectares. This contributed to an increase in prices. Currently, raw cotton is purchased on average at 160,000-165,000 tenge per ton. This is 25 percent more expensive than last year when a ton of products was estimated at 130,000 tenge,” the report added.
The increase in prices made it possible to marginally improve the socio-economic situation of 125,000 Kazakhstanis involved in the cultivation of cotton.
In 2020, in order to support cotton growing, Kazakhstan allocated more than 76,000 tons of fuels and lubricants at reduced prices and also compensated the purchase of 1,000 tons of seeds, almost 80,000 tons of mineral fertilizers, 183,000 liters of pesticides, and 207,000 units of bioagents used against pests.
In total, the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture provided support to 30,000 agricultural producers. In addition, 1.2 billion tenge of investment subsidies were paid for 891 units of agricultural machinery with a total value of 6 billion tenge.