Oilseeds production in Kazakhstan met expectations

Kazakhstan has adopted a state agriculture development program whose key domains include the development of overall crop production, in particular the oilseed segment as the most promising for the country.

The primary goal consists in expanding oilseed planted areas to 3 Ml ha by 2021 and, consequently, ensuring higher production and processing, meeting domestic needs, increasing the presence in the world markets of oilseeds and oilseed products etc.

While at the time of the program launch some tasks seemed unfeasible, the results of the past two years suggest that the projected advance is quite realistic, reports UkrAgroConsult.

An acreage expansion to 2.478 Ml ha was already achieved in 2017 (+22% from the previous year). Combined with a record yield of 0.97 MT/ha (+1%), this made it possible to harvest the heaviest oilseed crop to date – 2.4 MMT (+24%).

According to official information of the Ag Ministry of Kazakhstan, oilseed plantings continued increasing in 2018, when they reached 2.838 Ml ha (+14.5%). As a result, with the average yield staying at a record 0.97 MT/ha, the harvest set a new record of 2.694 MMT (+14.2%).