The country has more than 1.2 million hectares of arable land, of which 800,000 hectares are irrigated

Deputy Prime Minister Bakyt Torobaev called on farmers and agricultural workers to pay special attention to autumn field work. According to the minister, the country has 1.25 million hectares of arable land, of which 800,000 hectares are irrigated and 400,000 hectares are rain-fed.

On irrigated land, autumn ploughing and sowing have been carried out on only 62,200 hectares. Moisture accumulation has been completed on only 16,000 hectares. Of the total 800,000 hectares, only 78,000 have been cultivated, which is less than 10%.

On the 400,000 hectares of rain-fed land, work has been carried out on only 75,000 hectares, or 18%. The minister noted that these figures are very low and cause concern. Bakyt Torobaev emphasised the instability of climatic conditions.

«There may be little precipitation in the spring. It is possible that there will not be enough snow. In this case, the water shortage will increase. If we do not accumulate moisture now, the harvest will be low in the spring», — he said.

He also called on farmers to speed up work on moisture accumulation, autumn ploughing and water retention using small irrigation ditches, especially on rain-fed lands. The minister stressed that in conditions of climatic instability, moisture accumulation directly affects crop yields.