The farmers of Akmola region have started to plant drought-tolerant crops. A massive sowing campaign has already begun there. For example, in one of the region’s districts they plan to use almost 50,000 hectares of land. New varieties of wheat will be planted on most of them.
“Our main focus is on the variety itself, that is, the selection of drought-resistant varieties that nowadays need to be introduced here. Basically, these are varieties of Kazakh selection, which are adapted specifically for cultivation in arid conditions. That’s why we are working in close cooperation with scientists,” said Bakhyt Yermuratov, executive director of a partnership association.
At present, almost 15,000 tractors and about 1,500 sowing complexes have started spring field work in the Akmola region. It is planned to sow up to 250,000 hectares of land daily. The farmers intend to complete the spring sowing of grain and oilseeds by the end of May and the beginning of June. The total area of crops is more than five million hectares.
“There are no problems with seeds, 50,000 tonnes were prepared last year, including wheat of the first and second classes. We have 33 seed farms which sold about 50,000 tons of seeds of elite varieties. The issue of seeds is completely off the agenda,” added Yerkesh Alenov, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Akmola region.
The state reimburses the farmers of the region 70 percent of the cost of elite seeds and 50 percent of the cost of high reproduction seeds. For this, almost 800 million tenge (US$1.8 million) was allocated from the treasury.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova
