Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan Azat Sultanov spoke at the strategic session "State Strategy and Priorities for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Water Resources" of the Global Water international exhibition, El.kz reports with reference to the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan.
The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Agriculture noted that today the issue of introducing water-saving technologies is the most urgent. The prospects for increasing the efficiency of irrigated agriculture are connected with the widespread use of water-saving irrigation technologies, which reduce water consumption and increase yields through the point supply of water and nutrients.
Therefore, in order to stimulate agricultural enterprises to introduce water-saving technologies, the Ministry provides state support measures in the form of investment subsidies, as well as subsidizing the cost of water supply services to farmers.
"Due to the reimbursement of 50% of the costs incurred by farmers for the purchase of modern irrigation systems, as well as the provision of all the necessary infrastructure for the intake and supply of water, there is an increase in the area where water-saving technologies have been introduced since 2020 by 91 thousand hectares, which made it possible to bring the area to 312.2 thousand hectares," Azat Sultanov explained.
He added that from December 10, 2023, new rules for investment subsidies came into force. They provide for an increase in the share of reimbursement of farmers' costs for drilling wells in the construction of infrastructure for the intake and supply of water on irrigated lands from 50 to 80%, where 30% is subsidized by the local budget.
In addition, 18.4 billion tenge will be allocated for the implementation of irrigation projects as part of investment subsidies in 2023. For the current year, about 14.6 billion tenge is provided.
In addition, in order to encourage farmers to use modern water-saving technologies, in July 2023, amendments were made to the Rules for subsidizing the cost of water supply services to farmers. According to them, the amount of subsidies will depend on the method of irrigation. The Ministry is also working on the issue of increasing the standard for subsidizing the cost of purchasing and installing water-saving technologies from 50 to 80%, where 30% will be subsidized from the local budget.
"On behalf of the Head of State, work will be intensified to increase the area of irrigated land on which water-saving technologies are used to 150 thousand hectares per year. To do this, we decomposed this indicator to each akimat, taking into account the capabilities of the regions," the vice minister emphasized.
As for the diversification of sown areas of moisture-intensive crops, regional specifics and market needs were taken into account when drawing up plans.
These plans have been brought to the attention of regional akimats, which, in turn, must take all necessary measures.
"The main task is to increase the profitability of production by reducing the cost of production. To this end, stimulating measures will be continued to introduce modern agricultural technologies into production, including the use of high-quality fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, and productive equipment. It turns out that we will increase the yield of rice, due to which a decrease in the gross harvest of rice is not expected," Azat Sultanov said.
In conclusion, the Vice Minister stressed that the issues of introduction of water-saving technologies are a priority, are under constant and special control of the Ministry.