BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 21. The cost of delivery of a ton of sugar beet for processing in Kazakhstan will be 40,000 tenge ($83) next year due to an increase in the subsidy rate from 15,000 tenge ($31) to 25,000 tenge ($52), Trend reports via the press service of the country’s Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the press service, the strengthening of state support for the sugar industry was discussed at a meeting between the Vice Minister of Agriculture Abulkhair Tamabek and heads of sugar beet farms and farmers in the Zhetysu region.
During the meeting, it was noted that the costs of farms for the cultivation of sugar beets are growing annually and this year the costs per hectare varied from 900,000 tenge ($1,880) to one million tenge ($2,090).
Following the requests of beet growers to revise approaches to state support, the Ministry of Agriculture increased the subsidy rates, as a result of which the delivery cost of sugar beet will grow up to 40,000 tenge from the previous 30,000 tenge ($63). Thus, the profitability of sugar beet will be brought to the level of such crops as corn, rapeseed and soybeans.
Tamabek noted that the state will continue to support sugar beet growers, and a plan has already been developed for the development of the sugar industry.
It’s planned to allocate nearly 11.5 billion tenge ($24 million) of budget funds to increase subsidies for the delivery of sugar beets for processing next year. Besides, 50 percent of the cost of seeds, herbicides, and fertilizers, and 25 percent of the cost of equipment are subsidized, while the new subsidy rules envisage updating of the established limits on the maximum allowable cost of equipment.
"Moreover, as part of the work to improve state support measures, the issue of increasing the reimbursement rate to 50 percent for the purchase of beet harvesters is being worked out. The new state support rules are expected to come into force in 2023," Tamabek added.
Speaking about the development prospects of the sugar industry, the farmers noted the importance of observing agricultural technologies, which directly contribute to the growth of productivity, and, as a result, profits. As part of the implementation of a comprehensive plan for the development of the sugar industry until 2026, it’s planned to increase the area under crops to 38,000 hectares.