Temirzhan Aitbayev, Chairman of the Board of the Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetable Production, proposed testing foreign varieties for a fee. He noted that today about 75-80% of the varieties included in the variety testing commission are foreign. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan.
Illustrative
The key issues of the development of breeding and seed production were discussed at a meeting in NANOC. As Temirzhan Aitbayev noted, testing foreign seeds on a paid basis will allow funds to be used to increase the material and technical base and wages of employees.
Temirzhan Aitbayev also called for a review of the subsidy mechanism, restoring the ratio of 70% for domestic seeds and 30% for foreign seeds, while providing farmers with a choice between seed producers.
During the meeting, the results of the work of the Baraev NPCKH team for 2024 were announced. The centre's agronomists monitored the districts of the Akmola region and selected seven agricultural entities for pilot implementation of new technologies on a total area of more than 2,600 hectares. Five training seminars for agricultural entities were also held.
The meeting participants noted that Kazakhstan is still heavily dependent on seed imports. To solve this problem, the government has approved a Comprehensive plan for the development of breeding and seed production for 2024-2028, which will become the basis for creating competitive varieties and increasing self-sufficiency in seed production.
Reported by ElDala (Kazakhstan).