Kazakhstan to produce 20 mln tonnes of grain

Tleubayev said that half of the harvest can be exported, when the sowing
areas will be increased with durum wheat and sorghum. Kazakhstan belongs to the
six largest grain exporters in the world, and takes third place for flour export
after the European Union and Turkey.

The grain industry of Kazakhstan is oriented towards improvements of the
quality of production on the basis of the use of advanced technology,
high-production techniques that correspond with world standards and focus on
strict requirements on production safety.

Talking about further prospects
Tleubayev noticed that yield increase will permit the country to harvest about
24-26 mln tonnes of grain per year. Such a production volume will help to solve
the problem that was posed by the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev,
concerning entrance of the republic to become one of the five leading wheat
exporting countries.

According to Agricultural Ministry in 2006 grain
harvest totalled 18.5 mln tonnes. It will be 16.5 mln tonnes in clean weight;
about 7.5 mln tonnes from the total volume can be exported. For the last five
years annual export of grain from Kazakhstan totalled 3.7 mln tonnes including
3.3 mln tonnes of wheat. Earnings from export totalled $386 mln on average per
year.