FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 04/99 - KAZAKHSTAN (25 March)
The 1999 crop year is expected to be difficult. Farm credit, is scarcer than last year and farmers' ability to barter inputs has been affected by the poor harvest last year. The situation has also been compounded by the disruption to trade and marketing following the financial crisis in the Russian Federation. The bulk of 1999 grains will not be planted until May. The aggregate area to be sown to grains is forecast to fall to 12.2 million hectares, including 10 million hectares of wheat. This compares to reported sowings of 13.5 and 10.7 million hectares respectively last year. However, as only 11.3 and 9.1 million hectares respectively were harvested, the 1999 grain harvest could recover from last year's poor level of 7.3 million tonnes, provided the weather is better and planting targets are met. (As farmers are pressured to plant grain, the areas sown tend to be over-reported). The minor winter grain crop (mainly wheat) is still dormant. Some 0.7 million hectares were planted, 6 percent less than in the preceding year. After many years of inadequate herbicide use, weed growth is reported to be a major problem this year.
The 1998 grain harvest is now estimated by FAO at about 7.3 million tonnes, some 42 percent less than in 1997 in response to economic problems and dry weather. Carryover stocks could enable the country to export up to 1.9 million tonnes of cereals in 1998/99. By December 1998 some 1.4 million tonnes had already been shipped. Following the collapse of the Russian rouble and the sharp fall in the exchange rates of currencies of many neighbouring countries, the government has banned the inflow of Russian food products and imposed duties of 200 percent on food imports from neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Import duties on sugar and meat are to be increased in April.
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