“Uzbekistan has become a leader in flour exports, annually processing up to 1 million tons of Kazakh wheat and supplying flour to the Afghan market. This year, Kazakh grain exports to Uzbekistan amounted to 1.3 million tons,” said Utegulov .
According to him, only 70 out of 250 grain processing enterprises in the country are currently operating, while during the period of independence there were about 2,000. Then 1,750 elevators closed, which led to the loss of almost 70,000 jobs. Instead of flour and pasta, Kazakhstan has been increasingly exporting grain.
Kazakhstan also depends on imported seeds. The share of elite seeds in the country is only 7.1%, and 40% of wheat seeds are imported from abroad, although 12 research institutes of the Ministry of Agriculture and 17 elite seed farms operate in the country.
Photo source: picture from an open source