Kazakhstan harvests 20 mln tonnes of grain from 81% of sown area so far - ministry

ASTANA. Sept 30 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan had harvested 20 million tonnes of grains and legumes from 13.6 million hectares, with an average yield of 14.7 centners per hectare as of September 30, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Grains were harvested from 81.4% of the 16.7 million hectares under crops. Wheat was harvested from 10.7 million hectares, yielding 15.2 million tonnes at 14.2 centners per hectare, barley from 1.9 million hectares, producing 3.3 million tonnes at 16.7 centners per hectare, and oats from 158,200 ha, resulting in 250,000 tonnes at 15.8 centners per hectare.

Oilseeds were harvested from 494,000 hectares, yielding 568,000 tonnes at an average of 11.5 centners per hectare. Additionally, 2.2 million tonnes of potatoes were gathered from 95,000 hectares with an average yield of 233.8 centners per hectare, and 2.4 million tonnes of vegetables from 100,100 hectares at 248.2 centners per hectare. Melons were harvested from 97,800 hectares, resulting in over 5 million tonnes at 264.1 centners per hectare.

The harvest campaign utilized 149,900 tractors, 37,600 combine harvesters, 14,900 headers and 195,000 units of other machinery. The government provided 580 billion tenge in preferential financing for spring fieldwork and harvesting, nearly triple the amount from previous years.

This year, the total area harvested for agricultural crops in Kazakhstan is 23.3 million hectares, with a grain storage capacity of 30 million tonnes sufficient for the new harvest, considering carryover stocks from previous years. Initially, the grain harvest for 2024 was forecast at 13-14 million tonnes, but the government later revised this estimate to at least 20 million tonnes.

Kazakh farmers produced 16.6 million tonnes of grain, including 12.11 million tonnes of wheat, with an average yield of 9.7 centners per hectare in 2023. In 2022, the harvest was 21.6 million tonnes.