Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Agriculture says it continues a large-scale program to diversify agricultural crops area, with about 1 million hectares of farmland diversified across the country in 2025.
The program is aimed at expanding the area under highly profitable and in-demand crops, both in the domestic and export markets. The main goal is to reduce the dependence of the agricultural sector on monoculture, primarily wheat, and move to a more sustainable and balanced agricultural production.
In 2025, Kazakhstan significantly increased the area under legumes, oilseeds, and forage crops. The area under oilseeds expanded by 378,000 hectares to more than 3.3 million hectares. The area under sunflower reached 1.4 million hectares, 121,000 hectares more than last year. The area under flax grew by 181,000 hectares, safflower – by 52,000 hectares, and rapeseed – by 28,000 hectares.
To support livestock farming, the area under forage crops increased by 127,000 hectares.
Over the past two years, the area under wheat — a strategic export commodity of Kazakhstan — has decreased by 750,000 hectares, including 187,000 hectares this year. At the same time, taking into account the market situation and the social significance of crops, the area under barley was expanded by 158,000 hectares and under buckwheat by 41,000 hectares.
The area under potatoes was increased by 11,000 hectares to meet the domestic demand for this staple product following the recent shortages and price hikes.
To save irrigation water, the area under cotton shrank to 135,000 hectares, while the use of drip irrigation increased to 50,000 hectares of cotton fields.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, the structure of sown areas in 2025 will allow meeting the country’s domestic needs for key agricultural products.
In 2025, Kazakhstan planned to sow crops on 23.8 million hectares, an increase of 518,000 hectares compared to 2024.
Photo: gov.kz
