The unclear situation, both regarding grain seeds and the availability of food wheat, has not yet been clearly resolved. Previously, farmers announced a shortage of seeds for the upcoming sowing campaign. However, official government agencies reported the opposite situation and completely different figures. Meanwhile, no one knows exactly how much food wheat there is in the country. Official data sharply differs from the opinion of grain growers and flour millers. The APK News agency tries to cover all the information: data from government agencies, industry unions, and farmers. Yesterday, statistics released official figures on the presence of grain and legumes in farm bins. We present it to your attention. Along with this, we add comments from grain market participants who, it must be said, do not always agree with the official position.
According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the availability of grain and legumes in Kazakhstan as of March 1, 2024 is 11.5 million tons. Of these, 7.7 million tons are food products, 1.1 million tons are seed products, and 2.6 million tons are feed products.
Wheat
As of March 1, farms of various forms of ownership had a volume of wheat grain in the amount of 9.2 million tons. Of these, 6.6 million tons are food wheat grain, 930 thousand tons are seed grains, and 1.6 million tons are feed grains.
It is worth noting that as of February 1, there were 10.1 million tons of wheat grain available. Of these, 7.3 million tons are food products, about 900 thousand tons are seed products, and 1.9 million tons are feed products.
Previously, farmers and industry unions announced a shortage of seeds for the 2024 sowing season. The volume of the deficit was also announced - 700-800 thousand tons. Then the deputies reported that peasants in Pavlodar, Kostanay, North Kazakhstan and Akmola regions really have problems with the availability of seeds. Yesterday it became known that a similar situation had developed in the Karaganda region. As the head of the agricultural department said at a briefing, the need for agricultural seeds in the region has not yet been satisfied. But despite this, the official said, “farmers should not have any critical problems.”
Meanwhile, grain producers are increasingly raising the issue of rising seed prices. According to them, in grain-growing regions it reached 200 thousand tenge. The farms report that this year farmers will sow to those “who have what.”
According to Russian media, Kazakh farmers are buying seeds in Russia. The export of seeds from the regions of the Russian Federation bordering the Republic of Kazakhstan has increased tenfold. For example, in February, peasants of the Republic of Kazakhstan purchased a record volume of 2.5 thousand tons in grain-growing Omsk.
As for the availability of grain, in particular food grain – 6.6 million tons, market participants say that these data are not correct. There is no such amount of grain in Kazakhstan. And they call the volume half the official volume.
Other crops:
Corn
In total, there are 164 thousand tons of corn grain available. Of these, 62 thousand tons are food, 6 thousand tons are seed, 95 thousand tons are fodder.
Rice
In total, 199 thousand tons of rice are stored in the granaries of the farms. Of these, 173 thousand tons are food, 26 thousand tons are seed.
Barley
Total - 1.4 million tons: 547 thousand tons of food, 163 thousand tons of seeds, 765 thousand tons of feed.
Rye
Total - 22 thousand tons: 17 thousand tons of food, 1 thousand tons of seeds, 3.5 thousand tons of feed.
Oats
Total - 119 thousand tons: 46 thousand tons of food, 14 thousand tons of seeds, 58 thousand tons of feed.
Millet
Total - 19 thousand tons: 15 thousand tons of food, 1 thousand tons of seeds, 3 thousand tons of feed.
Buckwheat
A total of 75 thousand tons are available. Of these, almost 70 thousand tons of food, 4.5 thousand tons of seeds and 1 thousand tons of fodder.