Turkey's GenGroup Qazaqstan starts growing bananas in Turkestan region

ASTANA. Aug 14 (Interfax) - The Turkish company GenGroup Qazaqstan has built a greenhouse complex on an area of 5.3 hectares to grow bananas in the Turkestan region, in the south of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday.

"The banana variety has been bred and adapted to Kazakhstan's climate," the report says.

The greenhouse will expand by another 5 hectares to increase the banana production to 1,000 tonnes a year. "The first crop will be harvested in 6-8 months. The company will be also using the greenhouses to grow tomatoes and strawberries," the ministry said.

The cost of the project in the initial stage is $4 million. The greenhouses are equipped with climate control and nutrient technologies to help crops to adapt to the most adverse weather conditions.