During a meeting chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumanarin, matters concerning the development of greenhouse farming in Kazakhstan were addressed.
The Vice Minister of Agriculture, Amangaliy Berdalin, reported on the key indicators of the industry. Greenhouse areas in Kazakhstan decreased by 232.3 hectares over the past year, amounting to 1.2 thousand hectares. According to the Vice Minister, the reduction in greenhouse areas is attributed to the high production costs and low business profitability.
Currently, most greenhouses are located in Turkestan and Shymkent regions, covering an area of 824.2 and 139.2 hectares in accordance. Relatively small areas of greenhouses are also available in other regions of Kazakhstan.
The Vice Minister noted that the Ministry of Agriculture is working on implementing subsidies for expenses related to electricity, gas, and coal during the off-season period. Shortly, as part of investment subsidies, the reimbursement of costs for implementing projects to construct and expand greenhouse complexes is planned to be increased from 25% to 30%. The project regulations are expected to be approved by the end of September.
To promote the development of closed-ground vegetable production, government support will continue through subsidizing the costs of fertilizers (excluding organic ones) and pesticides, as well as providing irrigation water and cucumber and tomato seeds.
Additionally, the state is engaged in financing the construction of greenhouses under the universal “Agribusiness” credit program. The interest rate is reduced to 6% through subsidization.
Source: dknews.kz