Kazakhstan's farmers fight drought with modern irrigation innovations

Farmers in Eastern Kazakhstan are turning to irrigated farming to combat drought and improve crop yields. The Kyzylbulak agricultural cooperative in Tarbagatai District has set aside 260 hectares for vegetables and melons, while others in Zaisan District are adopting similar methods. The Kyzylbulak cooperative has taken steps to secure its water supply. Farmers drilled a well and constructed a 60-cubic-meter reservoir using their own funds. This year, they also introduced water-saving technologies on 150 hectares of their land.

Under the Aul Amanaty programme, local farmers purchased modern sprinkler systems and installed drip irrigation. In Zaisan District, Talgat Barkhanov’s family farm is using drip irrigation on 300 hectares of sunflower and pumpkin crops. The system is efficient, consuming only 70-80 litres of water per 500 hectares.

So far, 3,000 hectares of Zaisan’s 12,000 hectares of arable land now have irrigation systems in place. These efforts aim to boost productivity in a region facing water shortages. The investment in modern irrigation and water storage is already expanding across farms. More land is expected to benefit from these systems in the coming years.