November 18, 2011
Kazakhstan to increase subsidies for feed production in 2012
Kazakhstan Parliament requested the Ministry of Agriculture to increase subsidies for the production of animal feed products in 2012.
"There is a need to strengthen public support for harvesting haylage, as well as to increase subsidies for compound feed production, as the existing limits cover the cost of production process by only 5 - 7%," was said in an official request for deputies of the Parliament of Kazakhstan.
Deputies also noted that, in accordance with the recommendations of the EU leading experts, poor livestock productivity in Kazakhstan is presented primarily due to low quality of feed stocks, lack of high-protein crops in diets of animals (lucerne, sainfoin, peas, etc.).
"These crops as well as corn for silage in Kazakhstan yield only with irrigation. Thus dairy and beef cattle holdings can only develop only with a sufficient amount of high-quality feedproduction," noted in the request.
In parallel, experts said that Kazakhstan in recent years significantly increased the number of elite breeding stocks, which are imported among others from Australia and New Zealand, requiring high-quality feed production supply.
It has been estimated that under regional and federal grants, the total amount allocated to support feed production in Kazakhstan in 2011 could be about US$40 million, which is a record figure, not only for Kazakhstan itself, but also for the CIS region.
It is predicted that by 2012 this figure could be increased by 20% to approximately US$48 million.