Ministry of Agriculture plans to start subsidizing gas and electricity prices for greenhouses

The Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan is planning to start subsidizing the cost of electricity and gas for greenhouses in order to help farmers stay afloat, Agriculture Minister Yerbol Karashukeev said while speaking in front of Majilis, the lower house of the country’s parliament.

According to the minister, while the area of industrial greenhouses has grown by 31.7 hectares over the past three years, the area of small greenhouses run by farmers has decreased by 62 hectares due to surging prices for planting material, fertilizers and utilities. Given that small greenhouses traditionally aren’t that profitable, high utility costs are definitely not good for them.

«As the reduction of costs associated with the production is the only way greenhouses can increase their profitability, the ministry is going to introduce new subsidies for greenhouses. We are planning to subsidize the cost of electricity and gas during the off-season per hectare,» Karashukeev said.

As the official noted, public subsidies will be available for those greenhouses that comply with the national standard for greenhouse farms approved in May 2023.

In addition, the ministry wants greenhouses to become part of the Ken Dala financial program run by the Agrarian Credit Corporation by next year. The program provides soft loans for sowing and harvesting.

«We are finishing this work in 2023 (…) and we are expecting that the Ken Dala program funds will be available for greenhouses as well. I think that this is fair to allow greenhouses to get these financial resources,» the minister said.

Currently, the government is supporting greenhouse farms through so-called investment subsidies. The state is reimbursing 25% of the costs for the construction and expansion of greenhouse facilities and also subsidizing the costs of mineral fertilizers, seeds, pesticides and irrigation.