Kazakhstan: The processing of agricultural crops is required

The grain harvest in Kazakhstan will grow to 18.2 million tons (16.5 million tons were harvested last year), including wheat, which is almost 13 million tons (11.5 million tons last year), based on the prediction of the International Grain Council.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan agrees with this forecast. It is planned to collect 18.5 million tons of grains and legumes, 2.8 million tons of oilseeds, 33 million tons of fodder crops and 7 million tons of vegetables and melon, it was reported by the head of agricultural department.

In Kazakhstan, the sown area increased to 22.5 million hectares, which is 237.7 thousand hectares more than it was last season. Due to this fact, farmers began to sow more profitable crops, such as oilseeds, fodder, vegetable, melon and buckwheat.

The state additionally supported farmers financially in the amount of almost 11.5 billion tenge to subsidize pesticides, fertilizers, seeds.

However, whether the season will be successful depends not only on the area, but also on compliance with agricultural technologies.

It is necessary not only to sow the areas, but also to take care of the soil’s condition, for example, to fertilize it in the required quantity, to sow highly productive crops, but this is not common for our country, says Pavel Lushchak, Director of LLP Najdarovskoe. Therefore, it is impossible to increase the yield and export volumes, and achieve results like in China. Their average yield is 55 centners per hectare, which is 4-5 times more than ours.

We are also observing some changes. For example, farmers purchased 12147 tons of fertilizer when the plan was 7717 tons, according to the agricultural department of the Karaganda region. Herbicides are also actively used by farmers to control weeds; it is planned to plow 122 thousand hectares for convertible husbandry, which will give soil the opportunity to restore its fertility in a natural way.

The development of agricultural processing and not just sale of raw materials is another opportunity to increase the profitability of the agricultural business. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the economic literacy of farmers, says Pavel Lushchak, so that they understand how much and what they are losing money on. The main task is to teach farmers to move in the right technological and agronomic direction.

It is necessary to switch from the grain supply mode to the processing mode, says Pavel Lushchak. The foreigners install mills, process our grain and send flour for export, and we lose money, although we could do it ourselves. To open agricultural processing, namely oil crushing and grain processing, it is necessary for farmers to unite in cooperatives. Depending on the market situation, the cooperative regulate what to sow in each season. For some reason, farmers do not want to pay attention to this opportunity to increase profitability. It is necessary to convince them.