Kazakhstan's seed producers are capable of successfully competing with their European counterparts. This has been proven by the soft spring wheat variety "Taimas," developed several years ago at the Alexander Barayev Scientific and Production Center for Grain Farming. This year, seeds of this new variety are finally available to Kazakhstan's farmers in sufficient quantities.
Timur Savin, Chairman of the Board of the Barayev Scientific and Production Center for Grain Farming, spoke with AgroCaravan Harvest 2025 about this. The Center's production and research sites are located near the village of Shortandy in the Akmola region.
How to Procure High-Quality Seeds
When we arrived in Shortandy, it was raining, and the wheat's moisture content reached 17.5%. Harvesting the seed plots under such conditions is impossible – this grain must have a natural moisture content of no more than 14%, as drying it is not recommended to avoid loss of germination.
However, the Center is generally pleased with the results of the growing season.
"This season has been blessed with good precipitation," said Timur Savin. "And despite this, we completed sowing on time, finishing on May 28th. And this summer, we received rainfall above the long-term average. However, July was a disappointment—there wasn't enough moisture for grain ripening. But thanks to two or three seasons of active field preparation, leveling, fertilizing, and autumn tillage, we achieved a good yield. In early September, before the rains, we recorded a wheat yield of 20-21 centners per hectare. The long-term average here was 14-16 centners per hectare. We have the harvest of the best fields ahead, and we hope the yield there will be even higher."
The quality of the first threshing was also good: Class 3 grain with 25-27% gluten. What will happen after the rains remains to be seen. But the Center's specialists hope that the inclement weather won't lead to a significant reduction in grain quality. This is especially important for seed growers. Under favorable conditions, it's entirely possible to complete the harvest by the end of September: the equipment is ready for work.
How to Prepare Quality Seeds
When we arrived in Shortandy, it was raining, and the wheat's moisture content reached 17.5%. Harvesting seed plots in such conditions is impossible—the grain must have a natural moisture content of no more than 14%, as drying it is not recommended to avoid loss of germination.
At the same time, the Center is generally pleased with the results of the growing season.
"This season has been blessed with precipitation," said Timur Savin. "And despite this, we completed the sowing on time, finishing on May 28th. And this summer, we received rainfall above the long-term average. However, July was a disappointment—there wasn't enough moisture for grain filling." But thanks to two or three seasons of active field preparation, leveling, fertilizing, and autumn tillage, we achieved a good yield. In early September, before the rains, we recorded a wheat yield of 20-21 centners per hectare. The long-term average here was 14-16 centners per hectare. We have the best fields to harvest ahead, and we hope the yield there will be even higher.
The grain quality of the first threshings was also good, class 3 with 25-27% gluten. What will happen after the rains is unknown. However, the Center's specialists are hopeful that the inclement weather will not lead to a significant reduction in grain quality. This is especially important for seed growers. If conditions are favorable, it is entirely possible to complete the harvest by the end of September: the equipment is ready for work.
A "Living" Wheat Gene Pool
The total sown area of the Barayev Scientific and Practical Center for Grain Farming (SPCGF) is approximately 5,000 hectares and is divided into production and research plots. A portion of the fields is also left fallow annually—another requirement for seed production to maintain the purity of varieties.
"We have numerous propagation nurseries, so the sown area in the production plots this season was 3,300 hectares," said Timur Savin. "Of this, just over 2,000 hectares were occupied by wheat. Barley, flax, oats, corn, sunflower, and several other crops were also sown."
We also visited the gene pool testing site, where the wheat harvest was underway in meter-by-meter plots. A special combine is now used for this painstaking work, but in the past, these plots were harvested by hand. Considering that there are approximately 1,000 plots, it's clear how painstaking this work is. The goal of sowing on these plots is to maintain the gene pool in a "living" state and simultaneously study its properties. The best samples are used in the breeding process.
Advantages of the "Taimas" variety
The ongoing diversification of crop acreage in Kazakhstan directly affects breeders and seed producers, who are seeing increased demand for oilseeds and legumes. Therefore, the acreage under flax of the Center's own varieties has increased to 400 hectares this season. Agreements are also being signed with elite seed farms for them to source high-reproduction seeds (PR and super-elite) from the Center and multiply them into commercial lots.
The Center itself plans to offer 2,500-3,000 tons of wheat seed for sale this year, grown on its own production plots. This volume will also include the very same "Taimas" variety of soft spring wheat, which only a few farms in Kazakhstan have so far tried, and which have given excellent feedback. Its main advantages are its high yield, up to 40 centners per hectare in the dry steppe zone. This season, the first "Taimas" fields are showing yields of 33-35 centners per hectare, according to Maksut Tashenov, chief agronomist at the A. Barayev Scientific and Practical Center for Agriculture.
Another strong point of "Taimas" is its resistance to fungal diseases.
"After listening to our farmers' requests, we have placed a strong emphasis on propagating "Taimas," noted Timur Savin. "This year, we have planted 500 hectares of it. We believe we will have enough volume to supply everyone who wants it. We already have orders for half of the volume we plan to receive."
Seeds for Organic Farmers
Work on new varieties of wheat and other crops continues at the A. Barayev Scientific and Practical Center for Farming. Farmers are asking breeders for high-yielding varieties with high-quality grain, resistant to weather and other stresses—frost, drought, germination, diseases, pests, and so on.
"This year, we won a grant in collaboration with a leading international plant breeder, and now we'll be working on developing a strong domestic winter wheat variety," said Timur Savin. "We already have some groundwork in this area."
Another new area of the Center's research is developing a methodology for organic farming in Kazakhstan and processing organic plant materials. For this purpose, 430 hectares of the Center's land have been certified according to the European organic standard.
"We will be the first producers of organic grain seeds in Kazakhstan," added Timur Savin. "This year, organic seeds will already be available for sale, including the Taimas wheat variety."
The ElDala.kz team wishes the staff of the A. Barayev Scientific and Practical Center for Grain Farming a bountiful harvest of high-quality seeds. We are moving forward along the AgroCaravan Harvest 2025 route in the flagship JAC T9 pickup truck with the support of the project partners:
Eridon Kazakhstan - supplier of crop protection products and advanced agricultural technologies;
Astyk Trans - Kazakhstan's largest operator of grain wagons;
JAC - a brand among the top 5 suppliers of new vehicles in Kazakhstan.