On 07 February 2024, the President of Kazakhstan H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev chaired an extended session of the government in new composition to review the country’s social and economic development for 2023 and set main tasks for the coming period, reported the Akorda press service.
During the extended government meeting, the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, highlighted the most pressing problems of the agro-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan and proposed solutions to address the challenges.
“The most acute of them is the chronic underfunding of the industry. Lack of investment leads to wear and tear of agricultural machinery, low yields, and low labor productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the financing of agriculture, if possible by 2 times, attracting not only budget money, but also funds from other sources, incl. second-tier banks,” Akorda quotes the head of state.
President Tokayev emphasized that the volume of preferential lending for planting and harvesting works should be increased to 1.5 trillion tenge, and for investment projects – to 800 billion tenge. It is also necessary to increase the amount of preferential leasing of agricultural machinery to 450 billion tenge annually. According to the president, this will allow increasing the rate of renewal of agricultural machinery to 10% per year.
“According to calculations, these measures will help double the gross agricultural output. In addition, we will be able to increase the level of mineral fertilizer application to at least 50% of the scientifically based requirement. Agree, ten centers of grain per hectare is an indicator that does not look well on our country. This means that our agricultural chemistry does not work at all, although high-quality fertilizers are produced at Kazakh enterprises,” the head of state noted.
To note, in his September state-of-the-nation address the Head of State set a task to raise the share of processed goods in the agro-industrial sector up to 70% within three years. The Government should focus on transitioning from the raw-material orientation of the agro-industrial complex and the development of agro-processing.
“The government will have to pay special attention to the transition from the raw material orientation of the agro-industrial complex to the agricultural products processing development. It is necessary to significantly increase the number of people willing to engage in agriculture. It is necessary to provide comprehensive support to farmers who diversify crops and improve yields,” President Tokayev emphasized.
The President also noted that the sustainable development of the country’s agro-industrial complex directly depends on the availability of water resources. Last year, the Zhambyl region farmers faced irrigation water shortage. This year Kazakhstan is also forecast to brace for drought. The President stated that the new Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry is still ineffective. At the same time, the neighboring countries are more active and determined to address water deficiency problems. Kazakhstan has just recently adopted the water resources management development system concept. Irrigable lands in Turkistan and Kyzylorda region are at high risk. He continued by stressing that the county should widely introduce water-saving technologies, and launch a national water consumption campaign, to explore the practices and experiences of the neighboring countries. The Head of State concluded that providing the country with water is a crucial task, an issue of national security.
