An updated draft of the Agricultural Sector Development Concept until 2030 was considered at the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.
Minister of Agriculture Yerbol Karashukeyev noted that the document was developed taking into account proposals of business and experts, based on global challenges and global trends, which may face the domestic agro-industrial complex in the coming years.
Among the main objectives of the Concept: to increase productivity in the industry by 2 times, to increase exports of agricultural products by 3 times, and self-sufficiency in all food products at least 90%. It is also planned to increase the volume of investment in fixed capital in agriculture by 2.5 times on average.
In particular, measures will be taken to increase the wheat yield to 20 cwt/ha by subsidising the purchase of seeds and modernising seed farms. The area of irrigated land by the specified date is planned to reach 3 million hectares, and the level of mineral fertilizer application is planned to reach 40%. At the same time, the rate of agricultural equipment renewal should reach 7% thanks to preferential leasing and other measures of state support.
"To achieve these indicators it is necessary to abandon monocultures, observe scientifically-based crop rotations, and introduce modern resource-saving technologies in production. A special Integrated Seed Breeding Development Plan is being developed, within the framework of which work on transferring scientific organizations to modern methods of breeding has begun. A harmonious system of seed farms is being created, the key subjects of which will be our scientific and experimental farms of Non-commercial JSC National Agrarian Science and Educational Centre," the Minister pointed out.
To increase the efficiency and transparency of land management there are plans to launch a unified digital platform for agricultural land, to automate the process of registration of plots, and to continue work to identify and engage in the turnover of unused land.
In livestock breeding, emphasis will be placed on introduction of modern methods of breeding, stimulation of fodder production, development of pasture infrastructure and increasing the number of livestock animals in general.
In order to increase the volume of exports of domestic products, work will be done to expand the list of Kazakhstani enterprises in foreign supplier registers. This will allow to increase export up to $9.9 billion. As a whole, until 2030, in all sectors of agriculture it is planned to implement more than 1.7 thousand investment projects worth 4.5 trillion tg, which will significantly increase the export potential of the republic.
As far as agrarian science is concerned, it is planned to solve problems related to the introduction of applied developments into production and their commercialisation, and to create a modern national system for disseminating knowledge based on the experience of developed countries.
"Annual increase in program-targeted financing of agrarian science, introduction of sectoral grant financing for young scientists is envisaged. As a result, the share of scientific developments implemented in the agricultural sector should increase from 14.5% to 40%," Yerbol Karashukeyev said.
In general, implementation of the Concept is expected to saturate the domestic market with domestically produced foodstuffs, create about 70,000 households and about 400,000 jobs.