The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan will increase the standard for subsidizing mineral fertilizers, while state support will be directed to factories, and farmers will receive cheaper products. Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov announced this at a briefing at the Central Communications Service.
“We will pay subsidies directly to factories to support agricultural producers and to avoid corruption risks. If earlier we paid 50% to the agricultural producer, today we will pay 10% more - 60% directly to the factories. And the remaining 40% of the cost will be paid by the agricultural producer,” said the head of the Ministry of Agriculture.
For those farmers who will use imported fertilizers, state support will remain at the same level - 50% of the cost. Payment of subsidies in this case, as before, will go to the farmer.
In general, Aidarbek Saparov noted that the current level of mineral fertilizer application in Kazakhstan is low. If in European countries more than 250 kg of nutrients per hectare are applied, in Belarus - 120 kg, in Russia - 55–60 kg per hectare, then in Kazakhstan an average of less than 10 kg of nutrients per hectare is applied. At the same time, the volume of fertilizer application varies by region. For example, in the Kostanay region, where the cultivated area is 5.6 million hectares, only 54 thousand tons of fertilizers were applied in 2023. Whereas in the North Kazakhstan region, where the sown area is 1.2 million hectares smaller, 190 thousand tons were applied.
One of the main reasons for the low use of fertilizers is the lack of funding for the agricultural sector. Therefore, in the near future, available lending to agricultural businesses will be significantly increased.
“To consistently obtain good harvests, it is necessary to more than double the volume of fertilizer application already this year, and bring the figure to at least 1.5 million tons (in 2023 - 679 thousand tons), and by 2028 - to 3 .2 million tons. The application of fertilizers allows increasing the yield by an average of 3–5 c/ha,” concluded Aidarbek Saparov.