Baku, Azerbaijan, April 10
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
Kazakhstan is set to become one of the top five beef exporters worldwide following the launch of the second stage of the state program, Sybaga, Trend reports via Kazakh-tv.kz.
The program is aimed at helping farmers to breed high-quality cattle to increase the country’s export potential of local beef.
Deputy Governor of Urzhar district, Didar Khamitov said last year, 15 farms in Kazakhstan have expressed willingness to participate in the Sybaga stage program.
“We imported 747 cattle of the Hereford breed to Kazakhstan. This year, we expect to receive 60 cattle heads from Russia. We are planning to double the number of cattle in 2019,” he said.
There are more than 1,000 cattle of elite breeds in a local farm cooperative in Kazakhstan. The cattle include the French Charolais breed, Auliekol breed and Australian Angus. The farm was one of the first in the region to export 132 tons of beef to Uzbekistan.
Another large cattle breeding farm in North Kazakhstan region imports cows from the Czech Republic. The farm in the Peterfeld village is expecting to receive a total of 500 cows under the Sybaga program.
Deputy Governor of Kyzylzhar district, Umurbai Umarov said the Kazakh Government subsidizes the purchase of cattle under the Sybaga program.
“Based on the Government acts, the farmers receive subsidies worth 225,000 tenge per one cattle head. However, the Governor’s office of the region issued an additional resolution aimed to increase the value by 50 percent,” he said, adding that the farmers in the region would receive subsidies worth 337,000 tenge per cattle.
The Kazakh Government has announced recently that it will allocate over 42 billion tenge for the livestock breeding this year as part of the Sybaga program.
The Government also announced an allocation of more than 25 billion tenge for farming loans. Farmers can now purchase cattle on credit at 4 percent per annum for 15 years. Previously, the interest rate was set at 14 percent and the 10 percent difference is subsidized by the Government.
In 2018, the top five world exporters of beef include Brazil, India, Australia, United States and New Zealand.
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