The quality of this year's grain harvest in Kazakhstan is high. Despite unfavorable weather conditions, farmers not only gathered a rich harvest but also ensured a high level of baking quality of wheat, the Ministry of Agriculture reported. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.

Wheat quality at elevators

According to the ministry, 72 percent of soft wheat accepted at elevators belongs to the third class. In addition, 48 percent of the studied grain samples had a gluten content above 28 percent. This is evidence of the high quality of domestic grain this year.

In some regions, these indicators are even higher. For example, in Akmola region, the share of third-class wheat reached 90 percent, and the share of Hi-Pro category wheat reached 70 percent.

Food security

This is one of the key factors in ensuring the country's food security. A sufficient supply of food wheat fully covers the domestic market's demand for grain, flour and bakery products and forms the necessary reserve, the ministry reported.

In addition, grain quality directly affects the competitiveness of Kazakh products on the international market. High protein and gluten content increases demand for domestic wheat from flour milling enterprises and expands export markets.

Harvest campaign results

According to the results of this year's harvest campaign, 24.3 million tonnes of grain were harvested in the country. The average yield was 15.6 centners per hectare. This is above the long-term average.

There are grounds to say that this year the weather was unfavorable for the agricultural sector. In a number of regions, there was no precipitation for a long time and drought was observed. This negatively affected the condition of sown areas and threatened the volume of the harvest.

Nevertheless, thanks to the timely conduct of agrotechnical work, the provision of farms with necessary resources and comprehensive support from the state, the production potential of the sector was maintained at the proper level, the ministry reported.

Technological modernization

Technological modernization in the crop sector also yielded positive results. This year, agricultural producers applied 2.1 million tonnes of mineral fertilizers. This equals 66 percent of the scientifically based need. The share of elite seeds was 12 percent, exceeding the planned indicator of 11.6 percent.

The renewal of agricultural machinery continues. Through the preferential leasing program, farms purchased more than 11 thousand units of agricultural machinery. The level of renewal of the machine and tractor fleet reached 7 percent. By the end of the year, this indicator is planned to be brought to 8 percent, the ministry says.

For the timely conduct of the harvest campaign, 401.1 thousand tonnes of diesel fuel were allocated to the regions. In addition, due to precipitation during the harvest period, an additional 41.3 thousand tonnes of fuel were directed to grain drying.