Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin discussed current problematic issues with owners and employees of greenhouse farms in Saryagash district of Turkestan region. 

In the region is located more than 70% of the area of all greenhouses in Kazakhstan.  In early May, greenhouse strawberry producers raised the problem of the abundance of imported and cheaper berries on the country's markets, which forced them to suffer losses. In Tegyshil Rural District, Serik Zhumangarin met with local greenhouse growers to listen to their concerns. 

Ashirafi Shimbergenov, head of the Abduraman farm, has invested 300 million tenge in a 33-hectare project to grow strawberries in the open and closed ground. The greenhouse was built using South Korean technology on a 5.5-hectare plot. The peculiarity of the technology is the use of sunlight and insulation with a special coating, thanks to which the construction and production of greenhouse crops is 3 times cheaper than in conventional industrial greenhouses. External heat sources are needed to a minimum extent. For greenhouse farms, where heating in winter takes up to 70 per cent of all costs, this is a very significant saving. 

According to Shimbergenov, this technology is used everywhere in China and Korea, making the production of tomatoes, cucumbers and other greenhouse crops cheaper. It can also be used at low temperatures. In the future, the head of the farm plans to start exporting Kazakhstani strawberries. 

At a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, the head of the farm noted that he could not receive investment subsidies to expand production. He was supported by other greenhouse growers, emphasising that this form of state support is not available to them. For his part, Daniyar Kaltayev, chairman of the Association of Greenhouse Farms, noted that today's greenhouse growers are no longer the same as before, when the risk of losing a crop due to bad weather was very high. 

"Greenhouse growers are introducing new technologies, standards, expanding production. We are now preparing together a concept for the development of greenhouse farms in the country. But there is a problem that repeats itself year after year - the sales market. As soon as we start harvesting, the price drops. And we will soon be ready to cover all of Kazakhstan's demand for cucumbers in the season. We only need 2-3 months to sell the harvest in full, without the influx of greenhouse vegetables and berries from neighbouring countries," Daniyar Kaltayev said.

Serik Zhumangarin promised to consider all the issues raised with the relevant government agencies to make appropriate decisions.  

#Agriculture #Serik Zhumangarin