August 17, 2012

Kazakhstan's 2012 general wheat harvest may drop double

Kazakhstan's general wheat harvest in 2012 will total nearly 10.5 million tonnes, down over two times compared to last year's harvest, but up 9% compared to the low harvest in 2010.

Analysts of the APK-Inform Agency call a significant deficit of precipitations observed during several recent months, as the main reasons for the decrease of wheat production volumes in Kazakhstan, resulting in damaging of the major grain-planting regions of the country - Akmola and Kostanai oblasts (the share of the oblasts impact in the general harvest of wheat in 2011 - 60%), and some districts of Karaganda and Aktobe oblasts (last year - 4%).

Due to the impact of dry weather, the average yield of wheat in these oblasts is expected to be at least 1.5-2 times lower compared to the previous year, resulting in substantially reducing of the general production of wheat in Kazakhstan.