ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 2. Some 3.9 million hectares of grain and leguminous crops have been harvested throughout Kazakhstan through August, which is 22.3 percent of the planned volume, Trend reports.
The statement was made at the meeting of the Operational Headquarters chaired by Vice Minister of Agriculture Abulkhair Tamabek.
The latest data shows that, with an average yield of 10.2 centners per hectare, 3.9 million tons of grain were threshed. The average yield of oilseeds is 7.1 centners per hectare, about 63,100 hectares have been harvested. Some 613,200 tons of potatoes were with a yield of 202 centners per hectare. The yield of vegetables this year is 227 centners per hectare, about 1.8 million tons have been harvested.
As part of providing farmers with preferential diesel fuel, contracts were concluded and 176,400 tons of fuel were paid for, 156,600 tons were shipped.
To support the harvest campaign, the allocation of 426,000 tons of subsidized diesel fuel has been planned.
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.