Share of milk import in Kazakhstan to be reduced from 28% to 18% within 100 steps - Kosherbayev

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Reducing the share of milk import from 28% to 18% by 2020 is planned in Kazakhstan in the framework of the National Plan "100 concrete steps", Deputy Minister of Agriculture Yermek Kosherbaev has said at a briefing in the CCS today.

"Due to the creation of production cooperatives it is planned to increase milk production by 500 thousand tons by 2020 and to increase the processing capacity of production from 40% to 70%, to reduce the share of imports in the consumption of milk from 28% to 18%," Kosherbayev said.

He noted that the activities within the 60-th step of "100 steps" will attract strategic investors in the development of milk production and processing in Kazakhstan, according to the website of Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.

So, he said that the Aktobe region will create a farm, processing 60 tons of milk a day, the Almaty region 100 tons of milk, Akmola region 50 tons of milk per day.

As the vice minister said, the action plan as part of the "100 steps" provided the following issues: the financing of projects in the agricultural sector through the National Holding "Baiterek" and "KazAgro", the increase in interest rate subsidies for loans and leasing, tighter control of falsification and safety of products, creating conditions for domestic producers by increasing retail space, the establishment of logistics centers and the development of technical regulation.

"It is envisaged equipping laboratories with modern equipment for the detection of counterfeit food products and stepping up the promotion of the consumption of food products of domestic production," Kosherbayev said.

In addition, the plan provided for promotion of the use of breeding material with the best genetics, infrastructure development, milk production, and the development of fodder production.

It is also expected to increase the state order for scientific and practical measures to implement the latest technologies in production, to carry workshops with the participation of foreign experts in the field of dairy farming.

State support for processing projects is a priority of the Agribusiness - 2020 program, as well as the program of the second five-year industrial-innovative development.

According to the agency, as a result of 2014, over 5,0 million tons of milk was produced in Kazakhstan, 82% of produced milk is in gardens and firms, 18% is in agriculture establishments. The share of reproduced milk is 40%.