Drought in northern and central Kazakhstan has jeopardized the harvest campaign and created risks for the grain crop. Deputy Agriculture Minister Azat Sultanov said this at a government meeting, according to infohub.kz.
According to the deputy minister, the harvest campaign is currently ongoing in all regions of the country. However, weather conditions during the growing season this year were mixed: some northern and central regions received insufficient precipitation.
"At the same time, thanks to measures taken by the government to provide affordable preferential financing, farmers were able to carry out the necessary agronomic measures in a timely and high-quality manner," Sultanov reported.
In addition, wheat acreage in Kazakhstan is shrinking. Priority is given to more profitable crops, primarily oilseeds. Since 2024, oilseed area has increased by 2.2 million hectares to 5.2 million hectares (2.9 million hectares in 2024). The share of grain crops in the sown area decreased from 72% to 66%, while the share of oilseeds increased from 13% to 18%.
"To date, 13.5 million hectares of grain have been harvested, or 83%, with an average yield of 14.7 centners per hectare. A total of 19.9 million tonnes of grain has been threshed," the deputy minister added.
Sultanov emphasized that despite weather difficulties, the harvest campaign is ahead of last year's pace. The Agriculture Ministry forecasts that the final gross grain harvest will exceed the long-term average. The harvested volume will fully cover domestic market needs for food, feed and seeds, and will also allow export supplies to be maintained.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that difficult weather conditions are expected in Kazakhstan's main grain-growing regions during the harvest period.