ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 4. The grain on a total of 638,800 hectares has been harvested in the regions of Zhetysu, Almaty, Zhambyl, Turkestan, Abai, Kyzylorda, West Kazakhstan, East Kazakhstan, as well as in the city of Shymkent as of today, Trend reports.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the full-scale harvest operation in all other regions is set to begin in the third decade of August and will continue until November.
To support the harvest campaign, the allocation of 426,000 tons of subsidized diesel fuel has been planned. As of today, 78,200 tons have been paid for and approximately 45,700 tons have been delivered.
This year, the Ministry of Energy, as the authorized body, has approved the selling price of diesel fuel at 284,000 tenge ($63.9) per ton from refineries. Considering delivery expenses, the average price for farmers stands at 269 tenge per liter ($0.69), which is 9 percent lower than the market price.
The regional administrations are working diligently to ensure the readiness of grain storage facilities. The current storage capacity of elevators amounts to 29.9 million tons, including 13 million tons at grain reception facilities and 16.9 million tons at agricultural commodity producers.
These storage capacities are more than sufficient to accommodate the projected harvest, including carry-over stocks from previous years.