Kazakhstan to expand water-saving irrigation to 1.3 million hectares by 2030

By 2030, Kazakhstan plans to use water-saving technologies on 1.3 million hectares and save up to 2.2 billion cubic meters of irrigation water a year. Vice Minister of Agriculture Nazgul Khatepova presented these plans at an agricultural exhibition in China.

The country currently irrigates 1.6 million hectares of farmland. Water-saving systems are used on 702.3 thousand hectares, or 44% of that area. In 2025, modern irrigation saved 874 million cubic meters of water. Compensation for the cost of buying and installing such equipment has been raised from 60% to 80%. The subsidy on irrigation water costs for farms using these systems has been increased from 50% to 85%. A total of 214.6 billion tenge has been allocated for these purposes in 2026–2028.

At an SCO round table in China’s Shaanxi province, Khatepova proposed creating a shared platform for exchanging water-saving technologies. Through it, countries could jointly test irrigation systems, share research findings and train specialists. “It is important that our cooperation is focused on concrete results that farmers directly need,” the vice minister stressed.

As Kursiv reported earlier, agriculture accounts for about 60% of the country’s water consumption. In June, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov instructed officials to tighten control over the use of irrigation water.