Spring fieldwork. A game of survival?

Spring field work is on its way. And while everything is more or less clear with the machinery - the existing ones are being repaired, spare parts are being purchased, the situation with fertilizers and pesticides is not so straightforward. World of NAN conducted a survey among farmers from different regions and found out that most of them had to refuse the planned purchase of fertilizers. The prices are too much of a burden on the wallet of farmers.

Almaty region

The limited liability partnership Zhazylbekov & K is based in Almaty region. It works in two areas - livestock breeding and plant growing. It has about 5 thousand hectares of agricultural land. This year winter crops were planted on 1,200 hectares and there are plans to sow barley on 1,700 hectares. A total of 1 000 hectares will be planted with wheat. For the first time this year they will try to sow sunflowers on 300 hectares.

"Machinery is already prepared, there were no problems with it. We applied for saltpeter and sulphoammophos. Fertilizers are very expensive. We will buy Kazakh saltpeter, it costs 200 thousand per ton now. Last year it was cheaper. Sulphoammophos will cost 400 thousand. And I still cannot understand where such prices come from! We must buy saltpeter, it is used to feed winter crops, and sulphoammophos is needed for sowing. We can't do without it. Fortunately, we are 100% self-sufficient in seeds, we are engaged in seed growing. Subsidies will not cover the cost of farmers. I need 50-60m of fertiliser and I can only afford to buy 35m," said farmer Askar Bigametuly.

Kyzylorda region

Rakhim Kutibayev of Yntymak LLP, Kyzylorda region, is extremely indignant about the current situation. When asked if they had time to prepare for the SFW, to buy fertilizers and seeds, the farmer answered with a counter question " for what money, if the funds have not gone through yet?

As it turned out, the farmer has many grievances against the responsible services. The farm still does not know which budget to calculate the sowing season.

"To begin with, we have not yet been told what area this year's rice crops will occupy. Can you imagine that? Without knowing the volume, can we make calculations for the SFW? Thank God, our farm has found funds for spring works. We bought seeds, fertilizers. And how many small farmers are sitting around, waiting for the allocation of the money promised for the SFW. Credit associations are silent, there is no money there. We are told that the Ministry of Agriculture has not yet signed the relevant documents", - the farmer is quite baffled.

According to him, this situation of delaying the allocation of money before the SFW continues every year.

"In 2021 we received the fuel and lubricants only in April, and they are needed already in March. They said that this year we will receive them in February, but they have not given them yet. Everyone gets out of the predicament on their own. This season fertilizer has tripled in price. Last year we took granulated ammonium sulfate for rice for 70 tenge, now it costs 210 tenge per kg. Afraid that by the time the money will come it will get even more expensive, we bought it all the same. But the volume is small. There are those who do not have even 1 kg of fertilizer. The seeds cost 200 tenge per kg, whereas white rice itself barely makes it to 200 tenge," R. Kutibayev does not hide his indignation.

Akmola region

LLP agricultural firm "Vedenovka" is also preparing for spring field works. They are waiting for delivery of spare parts for tractors and seeding complexes. Repair work is planned for mid-April. Sowing will begin in late May. Areas will be occupied by flax, durum, soft wheat and barley. 

"The cost of spring field work has risen significantly. The price of plant protection products and fertilizers skyrocketed. If last year's SFW cost $100 per hectare, this year it's much more. For example, our farm did not buy the amount of sulfoammophos that we would like. The price had an impact. We had to limit it," says Madzhan Bostanov, an agronomist at the farm.

Karaganda region

A well-known agribusinessman Pavel Lushchak is struck by the logic of the responsible agencies, which do not take into account the annual increase in prices of fertilizers and PPP when planning the financing of the SFW.

"The representative of ACC at the recent Seed Day stated that 70 billion tenge were allocated to support the SFW. The proverbial 60 billion has been allocated since 2012. Since 2012, the devaluation and inflation have already made 3 to 4 rounds. This means that now agriculture already needs 200 billion tenge," said the farmer.

According to the farmer, the President's instructions to increase productivity in the agricultural sector by 2.5 times are not feasible with the current funding.

"If you look at it logically, if you tie prices to the dollar, to fuel, we still have the same 60 billion allocated, which defies any logic. In 2019 we had an estimated 29 thousand tenge per hectare, in 2020-2021 26 thousand, this year, if you divide 70 billion by 3 million hectares, which they want to finance, it turns out 23 thousand tenge! What is 23 thousand tenge for the sowing season? Sulphoammophos, which is applied during seeding of 80 kg per hectare, costs 320 thousand tenge today. In other words, we can bring 70 kg of fertilizers for 23 thousand tenge. This is not enough, there is no logic," - the agrarian is perplexed.

Thus, it seems that the spring field works for farmers have turned into a kind of survival game.