Kazakh farmers demand a complete ban on the import of feed grain from the Russian Federation and the abolition of the duty on sunflower exports

Farmers of the Kostanay region of Kazakhstan put forward a number of proposals to the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan to support the industry. In particular, farmers are asking for a complete ban on the import of feed grain from Russia, the abolition of the duty on sunflower exports, and a significant increase in the purchase of non-grade wheat by the Food Corporation. This was reported by APK-Inform with reference to the statement of the Association of Agricultural Producers of the Kostanay Region.

Let us recall that the region suffered most significantly from heavy rainfall this year: according to experts, up to 90% of the wheat harvest in the Kostanay region is sprouted grain.

“It is necessary to implement a complete ban on the supply of feed grain from Russia in order to provide a market for non-grade wheat for domestic farmers. Also, the Food Corporation, having the necessary resources, needs to think about finding new markets and expanding cooperation. China could become such a direction. It is absolutely obvious that it is no longer possible to work according to the old schemes,” the association emphasizes.

Another method of protecting the grain market could be the introduction of an import duty, the report notes.

Considering the huge volume of unclassified wheat on the market, farmers in the region believe that the Food Corporation should purchase 3 million tons of unclassified grain in the Kostanay region alone (instead of 350 thousand tons throughout the country).

Farmers also demand urgent repayment of debts on subsidies, and subsequently change the rules for per-hectare subsidies, which will make this process transparent and rational use of land.

In addition, farmers are asking for the extension of accounts payable for a period of at least 2 years.

“When lending for spring field work in 2024, provide for the possibility of providing guarantees to JSC SPK Tobol or JSC Entrepreneurship Development Fund Damu as additional collateral, in case of its absence. Also increase the amount of credit lines without increasing the authorized capital,” the message says.

Another proposal to support agricultural producers is to abolish the export duty on sunflower seeds, “since the introduction of this measure made farmers completely dependent on oil processors, which is fundamentally wrong.” The association believes that a measure of support for farmers could be the return of the previous conditions of the rules for subsidies when delivering sunflower to domestic oil factories, without reference to the harvest year.