May 14, 2013

Kyrgyzstan receives and stores Russian grain

The Centre for Grain Expertise under the Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture reported that in Kyrgyzstan a reception and storing of Russian grain in the state reserve took place last week.

"The grain of the wheat crop of 2008 was received by Kyrgyzstan from Russia," Director of the Centre Artykbay Hamitov said. "Laboratory analysis of the grain found no harmful mineral impurities and black besatz, as well as grain storage pests."

The Centre for Grain Expertise, in association with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has conducted monitoring for compliance with the production process and processing flour, as well as monitoring of the fortification of the flour. The Centre and UNICEF jointly inspected 14 large flour mills in Kyrgyzstan. Today, the country has a little over 100 warehouses with a storage capacity of 450,000 tonnes of grain.

The current situation in Kyrgyzstan is such that, with the incidence of iron deficiency anaemia, it requires the adoption of special government programmes. According to UNICEF, one such programme is the mandatory fortification of flour with а vitamin premix, iron, and folic acid.

Statistics on the prevalence of anaemia remains alarming, especially among children aged six months to 12 years (40%). The rate of iron deficiency anaemia among women of reproductive age is high.

Lack of vitamins and minerals in the population significantly affects the budget of the country. According to experts, Kyrgyzstan annually loses up to 1.2% of GDP due to the shortage of iron and iodine. Expenditures to fortify flour are 10 times less than the economic losses.