On the eve of the mass harvest of the new harvest, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin held a meeting of the operational headquarters for autumn field work.
According to Vice Minister of Agriculture Nazgul Khatepova, harvesting work is already underway in most regions of the country. The massive harvesting campaign will begin in the third decade of August.
The total harvested area this year is 24.2 million hectares, of which 15.6 million hectares are cereals and leguminous crops. To date, grains have been harvested from 1.9 million hectares, or 12.5% of the area. For comparison, as of the same date last year, 1 million hectares, or 6.1%, were harvested. The earlier start of harvesting is associated with accelerated ripening of crops due to the abnormally hot summer.
At the same time, grain yields are higher than last year: on average 16.4 c/ha versus 14.8 c/ha a year earlier. 3.2 million tons of grain were threshed. Oilseeds were harvested from 3.4 thousand hectares, the average yield is 10.5 c/ha compared to 7.4 c/ha at the same date last year. 3.5 thousand tons were threshed. Organized farms harvested 214 thousand tons of potatoes with an average yield of 249.2 c/ha versus 235.6 c/ha a year earlier. Also collected were 628.6 thousand tons of vegetables and 506.9 thousand tons of melons.
Equipment preparation for mass cleaning is being completed. Its readiness in the regions is about 97%; by the start of the main campaign it should reach 100%. In total, 130.8 thousand tractors, 29 thousand grain harvesters, 17 thousand reapers and 130 thousand units of other equipment will be involved in the harvesting. Including more than 12.7 thousand tractors and 2,340 combines purchased by farmers since the beginning of the preferential leasing program will go to the fields.
1.9 million tons of fertilizers have already been shipped to farmers, or 83% of the plan. The regions were allocated 401 thousand tons of diesel fuel for harvesting work. Together with the Ministry of Energy, a schedule for assigning regions to refineries for July-November was approved. For agricultural producers in the main grain-growing regions, the cost of diesel fuel is 305–310 tenge per liter, which is 10% lower than the market price. To date, 65.8 thousand tons of fuel have been shipped to the regions.
To ensure transparency of supplies to agricultural producers, diesel fuel has separate pin codes and digital markings, and is also colored blue, yellow and red. A virtual warehouse has been created in the electronic invoice system. Together with the State Revenue Committee, the implementation of molecular labeling at the Shymkent oil refinery is being worked out. 60 thousand tons of liquefied gas have been previously allocated for drying grain and oilseeds.
Special attention at the meeting was paid to the readiness of granaries. With a total storage capacity of 30.7 million tons, the current load is 2.4 million tons (17%). At the same time, in the Akmola, Kostanay and North Kazakhstan regions there are individual elevators that are more than 40% full, with a low average load of storage facilities in the regions as a whole. Taking into account the upcoming arrival of the new harvest, Serik Zhumangarin instructed the akimats, together with the Food Corporation, to intensify work to release containers.
“We see that adherence to agricultural technologies gives results: the average yield now, even in such a dry summer at the beginning of harvesting, is 16.4 c/ha, whereas previously the average was 11–12 c/ha. To avoid time troubles during a massive harvesting campaign, it is necessary to provide the necessary volume of gas and diesel fuel for drying grain and oilseeds, a sufficient number of rolling stock and timely release of grain storage tanks for the arrival of the new harvest,” emphasized Serik Zhumangarin.
The Deputy Prime Minister also heard from the deputy akims of the main grain-growing regions. Due to the earlier start of harvesting, the Akmola region requested to postpone part of the diesel fuel volumes planned for September to August. The Ministry of Energy has been instructed to quickly work out this issue with the region.
Separately, preparations for harvesting sugar beets in the Zhambyl region and Zhetisu, where four sugar factories in the country are located, are considered. Currently, the Koksu sugar plant is being modernized with an increase in capacity from 2 thousand to 3 thousand tons per day. At the Taraz Sugar Plant, work is underway to commission a new sugar beet processing line with a capacity of 3 thousand tons per day. The work is scheduled to be completed by October.
The Merken sugar plant with a capacity of 3 thousand tons per day and the Aksu sugar plant with a capacity of 3.5 thousand tons are operating as usual. By 2027, it is planned to increase the capacity of the Aksu plant to 4.5 thousand tons, and the Koksu plant to 5 thousand tons per day.
In 2025, Kazakhstan produced 171.9 thousand tons of sugar, which is 5.6% more than a year earlier. For January-June 2026, production amounted to 76.9 thousand tons.