August 10, 2011

Kazakhstan's grain yield to reach 18-20 million tonnes

Kazakhstan will be harvesting 18-20 million tonnes of grain this year, according to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

"This year we expect to yield 18-20 million tonnes of grain. The government is to make sure the wheat is properly stored and then sold," Nazarbayev said on Monday (Aug 8) when meeting with the agricultural producers in the Akmola Region.

"We should start growing animal feed. We need to grow wheat and raise cattle to satisfy 80% of the domestic demand in future and not depend on others," the president said.

Nazarbaev stressed that the wheat situation in the Akmola Region was good and the area under crop was over 4.5 hectares.

According to the projections of the Agriculture Ministry, this year's harvest will come to 17-17.5 million tonnes.

The Akmola Region is one of the three grain growing regions of Kazakhstan, reported Interfax-Kazakhstan.