State of agriculture in Almaty region

The World of NAN editorial analyst continues the series of posts on the situation of agriculture in each major region. More analytics can be found on the Telegram channel of the editorial office.

The region produced products worth 774 billion tenge in 2022. This is 0.4% less than in 2021, and the region's share of the total in Kazakhstan amounted to 8.1%. By this indicator, the region ranks 5th among the regions, which makes it one of the most important and largest in Kazakhstan. And this result was achieved after the recent separation of Zhetysu region from it. If we combine the gross output of the two regions, the old Almaty region would have taken the first place in Kazakhstan.

Livestock breeding is very strong, but crop production is not far behind either. The main driver of the region is cattle breeding, as it brings a tenth of all production in the country, and the region ranks second in the ranking. Total output in livestock production amounted to 377 bln KZT (+1.9% by 2021). In crop production, the region lags slightly behind, and total output in money even exceeds livestock production, amounting to 392 bln tenge (-2.1% y/y).

Nevertheless, relative to other regions this result is not the highest. The region ranks 5th in crop production.

Grains are not in favor. At the same time, the sown area in 2022 amounted to only 463 thousand hectares, which is only the 13th result among all regions.

In cereals and legumes the region's share is only 1.1%, and specifically in wheat only 0.3%. But the region's strength in crop production is not based on cereals or extensive methods, but on something else. Incidentally, in terms of greenhouse area, the region ranks an honorable 3rd place: the total area of 86.9 hectares, accounting for 6.9% of all greenhouse areas in the country.

The fruit and vegetables are the strong point. The region ranks 3rd in terms of harvested area and gross vegetable harvest. In 2022, 1.4 million tons of vegetables, melons, root and tuber crops were harvested, which is a country-wide share of 11.6%. The region is the leader in a number of vegetables and fruits: beet (17% nationwide share), pumpkin (22%), eggplant (19%), pepper (42%), corn for feed (21%), pear (38%), apricot (51%).

The region is also the leader in harvested flowers (7.8 million pieces, 44% share). The region is slightly behind (most often from Turkestan or Zhambyl regions) and ranks second in apple (35% share), grapes (19%), corn (13%), potatoes (12%), cabbage (13%), cucumbers (18%) and onions (13%).

Meat leaders. For the most part, the livestock production of the region is based on absolute leadership in meat production. For 9 months of 2023, 194 thousand tons of livestock and poultry (-1.7% y/y) were slaughtered in live weight, which is 12.7% of all meat produced in the country. The region is also in the lead in all other major livestock products. For small and large hides, the region ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively, contributing about 10-11% of all hides. The region also ranked 4th in egg and milk production. For 9 months of 2023, 414 mln eggs were produced, which is equal to 11% of eggs in Kazakhstan. Milk yield increased by 4.6% y/y and reached 443 thousand tons for the same period, the share was 8.5%.

The share of poultry and sheep is high. The region ranks second in terms of poultry population (9.8 mln birds at end-September), slightly behind Akmola region. About 19% of all poultry in Kazakhstan are in the Almaty region. The region also has a fairly high share of sheep. There are 2.7 million heads of sheep in the region (12.5% share). The region is also not far behind in terms of cows and ranks 3rd, with a share of 8.6%. But for pigs, horses and camels, the region ranks 7-8, with a share in the total number not exceeding 6%.

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