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Agriculture

Kyrgyzstan China Move Toward Mutual Recognition of Organic Certificates

Kyrgyzstan and China have agreed to begin work on mutual recognition of organic certification systems, in a move that Bishkek hopes will simplify exports of organic agricultural products to China. At present, obtaining an organic certificate in Kyrgyzstan is not enough for a producer to sell a product as organic in China. The agreement was reached on September 17 during talks in Bishkek with a delegation from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR. The two sides agreed to establish a joint working group to harmonize their organic standards and technical requirements. Training and internships for Kyrgyz specialists were also discussed. The September 17 announcement described a “principled agreement” rather than a signed mutual-recognition arrangement, so it is too early to speak of the Chinese market being opened to Kyrgyz organic products. An organic certificate is only one part of the requirements for exporting food to China. Depending on the product, exporters must comply with separate sanitary requirements covering everything from pests and diseases to processing, packaging, and storage. Overseas food producers and processors may also need to register with Chinese customs through the China Import Food Enterprises Registration system, known as CIFER. In practical terms, mutual recognition could remove one layer of certification, but it would not eliminate other import requirements. Different products are subject to different rules. Approval for Kyrgyz raspberries, for example, does not automatically provide access for beans, honey, or meat. Kyrgyzstan already produces organic goods including beans, apricots, and nuts. Certification could increase their value, but exporters would still need consistent supplies, cold storage where required, and reliable transport across the border. By the end of June 2026, more than 101,000 hectares in Kyrgyzstan were covered by organic production systems. Around 11,400 hectares are cultivated by 11 cooperatives working to international standards, producing goods ranging from cotton and beans to fruit and nuts. Most of the remainder, about 85,300 hectares, falls under a Participatory Guarantee System, or PGS. These lower-cost systems are mainly aimed at local markets and are not automatically recognized abroad. The total area under organic production therefore does not show how much Kyrgyz produce could already be sold in China as organic. A key issue in the negotiations will be which parts of Kyrgyzstan’s certification system China agrees to recognize. By 2029, Kyrgyzstan wants to expand certified organic farmland to about 200,000 hectares and run pilot programs in Issyk-Kul and Naryn to shift more farming toward organic production. The national program also aims for organic products to account for 25% of agricultural production and exports. China has been gradually opening its market to individual categories of Kyrgyz agricultural products. The countries have already signed eight protocols covering products including beans, poultry, wool, and cashmere. Dried fruit exports have begun, while access for several other agricultural products remains under discussion. China has also simplified access for frozen fruit. It removed quarantine-access requirements for imported frozen fruit in August 2024, allowing such products to enter from any country provided other import requirements are...

Food Security

Kyrgyzstan Targets Food Self-Sufficiency by 2030

Kyrgyzstan aims to fully meet domestic demand for key food products through its own production by 2030. For now, the country produces enough potatoes, vegetables, and milk, but imports still cover close to half of its vegetable oil and wheat needs. The government presented its new targets on September 8. According to data for the first half of the year, potato production was almost twice the level of domestic demand, vegetable and melon production was more than double demand, and milk production exceeded domestic requirements by roughly a quarter. The picture is weaker elsewhere. Meat and eggs cover about four-fifths of demand, while flour products and sugar are closer to three-quarters. Domestic vegetable oil meets just 54% of demand, while the figure for fruit and berries is only around 16%. These figures sit awkwardly with claims made earlier in the year. In February, the Ministry of Agriculture said Kyrgyzstan was already self-sufficient in six of nine major food categories, including meat, sugar, and eggs, although its own figures put all three below 100%. Wheat remains particularly sensitive. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), imports cover nearly half of Kyrgyzstan’s wheat requirements for food consumption and the milling industry. In the 2025/26 marketing year, the country was expected to import around 350,000 tons of cereals, with wheat typically accounting for approximately 95% of cereal import requirements. Supplies come mainly from Russia and Kazakhstan, leaving domestic flour and bread prices exposed to harvests, grain prices, export policies, and logistics in both countries. The government plans to expand wheat and oilseed cultivation, establish new orchards, and increase the area of irrigated farmland. It has also called for proposals to expand citrus production. The authorities have also intervened directly in the meat market. After prices rose in 2025, the government imposed price caps on certain types of meat and extended the controls. It has also used temporary restrictions on livestock exports to increase supplies on the domestic market. In a 2024 strategy document, the International Fund for Agricultural Development estimated that Kyrgyzstan depended on imports for about 40% of its overall food requirements. Agriculture employs a significant share of the population, while most farms remain small family-run operations. Reaching the 2030 target will therefore require substantial increases in domestic production of wheat, vegetable oil, and fruit within the next four years.

Agriculture

Weather Boosts Early Kazakhstan Grain Harvest

An unusually hot summer has led to an earlier grain harvest in Kazakhstan. Farmers have already collected 7.7 million tons of grain from roughly a third of the country’s grain-growing area, almost twice as much land as had been harvested at the same point last year. The first batches of wheat are also showing noticeably better quality – an important factor for Kazakhstan’s grain exports to Central Asia and other markets. By this point in 2025, farmers had collected 3.9 million tons of grain, compared with 7.7 million tons this year. The government said in mid-August that warm weather had brought the harvest forward, adding that newer farm machinery and modern farming technology had helped farmers increase the pace. It is still too early to say whether Kazakhstan will repeat its record harvest of 2025. Last year, the country produced more than 27 million tons of grain, including 20.3 million tons of wheat. Expectations for this year had been more cautious. Dry conditions in central and eastern Kazakhstan raised concerns about a smaller crop, and some industry experts suggested production could fall by 15%-20% from last year. The early results, however, suggest the wheat may be of better quality. Of the soft wheat already delivered to grain elevators and tested, 78% has been classified as Grade 3 and another 14% as Grade 4. Grade 5 and ungraded wheat account for 7%. Grade 3 wheat is suitable for flour and bread production. The early figures compare favorably with last year, when 53% of soft wheat was classified in Grades 1-3 and 35% as Grade 4. Gluten levels, another measure of wheat quality, are also strong. Of the wheat tested, 56% has a gluten content above 28%, while another 19% is in the 25%-27% range. That promises to be a boon for exports. Kazakhstan is a major supplier of grain and flour to Central Asia, and also sells to Afghanistan, China, and other markets. A larger share of higher-quality wheat gives exporters more opportunities to sell into higher-value markets. Kazakhstan is also changing what it grows. The government has been reducing the area planted with wheat and encouraging farmers to grow more oilseeds and other more profitable crops. In 2025, the oilseed harvest reached a record of nearly 5 million tons. This year’s oilseed harvest is only just beginning, with 244,000 tons collected so far. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 98% of grain and oilseed crops are currently in good or satisfactory condition. With 35.5% of the grain-growing area harvested so far, the early results point to better wheat quality, but the final size of the crop will depend heavily on the harvest in Kazakhstan’s main grain-producing regions in the north.

Camel Farming

Camel Farming Expands Across Central Asia as Climate Pressures Mount

Camels are gaining renewed economic importance in Central Asia as farmers seek new markets for their milk and governments look for livestock better suited to increasingly dry conditions. In Kazakhstan, camel numbers are rising and producers are developing markets for shubat, a fermented camel milk drink, and powdered camel milk. Uzbekistan, meanwhile, has begun working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to develop camel husbandry in arid areas. Kazakhstan has more than 322,000 camels, according to government figures for 2026, an increase of 2.4% from the previous year. Most are raised in the vast arid lands in the west and south of the country. Camels are also an important part of Turkmenistan’s livestock sector. The herd numbered about 345,000 animals in 2020. Bactrian camels have traditionally dominated Kazakhstan’s camel herd. They can withstand sharp fluctuations between extreme heat and severe cold. Over the past two decades, Kazakhstan has also seen an increase in one-humped Arvana camels, a breed of Turkmen origin known for high milk productivity. In Turkmenistan, the Arvana is the mainstay of the industry. These camels can produce milk even when grazing on sparse desert pastures, feeding on salt-tolerant vegetation and bitter wormwood that are of little use to many other types of livestock. Milk Brings in the Money Milk offers camel farmers a product that can be sold throughout the year and increasingly processed into higher-value goods. A female Kazakh Bactrian camel can produce up to about 1,750 liters of milk annually, although yields vary considerably between breeds and farming systems. The main product on the domestic market is shubat, but larger producers have also begun processing camel milk for markets far beyond the communities where it is produced. One of the most prominent examples is Daulet-Beket LLP in the Almaty region. When a camel-milk processing plant opened there in 2021, the farm had around 5,000 camels and was producing up to five tons of shubat a day. The plant was designed to produce as much as 30 tons of powdered camel milk a month, with products being shipped to Russia and China. Smaller farms show how strong local demand can also sustain the industry. The Suleymanov family in the Almaty region started with two camels. By the time they were profiled in 2021, their herd had grown to around 70 animals. Sixteen were being milked each day, producing 52 to 53 liters. The family said customers frequently bought their shubat before it even reached Almaty. Camel Farming in Turkmenistan Turkmen state media has also highlighted privately run camel farms. A 2024 report said farmer Serdarkuli Berdyliev in Ahal province kept 320 camels, including 140 females. Average milk yields were around six liters a day. Information about private agriculture in Turkmenistan largely comes through tightly controlled state media. Camel milk production continues to feature in official coverage alongside the country’s long-established herding traditions. Camel wool remains a marketable product, although its market is much smaller than that for milk. In Turkmenistan, it...

Water Security

Kazakhstan Seeds Clouds as Kyrgyzstan Questions Regional Impact

A small aircraft climbed out of Turkestan airport on July 10 with hygroscopic salt flares fixed beneath its wings. Operated by the United Arab Emirates’ National Center of Meteorology, it was searching for a cloud suitable for seeding. Pilot Ahmed Aljaberi described the aircraft as “specifically equipped with a cloud-seeding flare system.” But no suitable cloud appeared during the mission. Cloud seeding can try to draw more rain from an existing cloud, but it cannot make one from clear air. Kazakhstan launched the project in Turkestan on May 16, targeting more than 911,000 hectares of arable land in the country’s leading cotton-belt. The government puts the potential economic benefit at up to 35 billion tenge, roughly $75 million a year. The partnership gives Kazakhstan access to decades of Emirati experience in weather modification. The UAE program dates to the late 1980s, and Emirati specialists are training Kazakh meteorologists, pilots, engineers, and other staff. Kazakhstan’s government describes the Turkestan operation as the first project of its scale in the region, though weather modification in Central Asia has a longer history. Kochkunbek Bakirov, a geographer at Kyrgyzstan’s National Academy of Sciences, has described Soviet-era research in the Karshi steppe, the Naryn basin, and over Issyk-Kul. Kazakhstan also trialed a different approach in Mangystau in 2021, using an ionization-based system promoted as a way to increase rainfall. Its developer claimed the equipment had begun to influence local moisture. The Mangystau system used ionization; the current program uses aircraft and hygroscopic salt flares. Before operations began, Kazhydromet analyzed data from 39 meteorological stations covering 2020 through 2024, selecting the Turkestan Region after studying atmospheric conditions and terrain. Flights only proceed when naturally formed cumulonimbus clouds with sufficient vertical development are present, with Kazhydromet monitoring satellite imagery, synoptic data, and cloud development before operations. The aircraft releases salt-based particles into suitable clouds. Kazakhstan’s Ecology Ministry lists sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium compounds among the reagents. In hygroscopic seeding, the particles encourage liquid droplets to collide and coalesce, which can improve precipitation efficiency in a suitable cloud. The cloud and its moisture must already exist. By July 13, crews had completed eleven operational flights, mainly over the Otyrar and Sozak districts. Officials were still analyzing the results of each operation; the number of flights does not show how much extra rain the project has produced. Kazakhstan’s launch materials cite a possible 10 to 20% increase in precipitation under favorable conditions. Results elsewhere vary widely. A 2024 review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found estimates of 0 to 20% additional precipitation in the studies it examined. The GAO also found that effectiveness remains difficult to evaluate and that suitable clouds must be present. The evidence is much stronger for some cloud-seeding methods than for others. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says the strongest recent causal evidence comes from wintertime glaciogenic seeding of orographic clouds, while Kazakhstan is using hygroscopic salts in convective clouds. Their large natural variability creates a weak signal-to-noise problem, making the added...

Trade Barriers

Kazakhstan Wheat Ban Raises Risk of Renewed Trade Spat With Russia

A truck crossing into Kazakhstan through a northern border post can be declared as carrying 18 tonnes of wheat while hauling as much as 40 tonnes. Grain Union analyst Evgeny Karabanov described that gap as part of the country’s problem with undeclared Russian grain. Astana’s answer is a six-month ban on most wheat imports from July 27. The measure may curb grey-market loads and support domestic farmers, but it also risks reopening a trade dispute with Russia and deepening the gap between the Eurasian Economic Union’s promises and daily commerce. Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov’s order covers wheat arriving by road, water, and rail from EAEU members and other countries. Poultry farms, grain processors, licensed elevators, and the state Food Contract Corporation may still import by rail. Wheat imported for poultry farms and grain processors cannot be resold inside Kazakhstan or abroad. Rail transit through Kazakhstan remains exempt. The government says the ban will support local producers and secure sales. Deputy Agriculture Minister Azat Sultanov said Kazakhstan has large carryover stocks that need storage. “The decision was taken to stimulate the domestic market,” he said in June. The order names every foreign supplier, but its commercial impact will fall mainly on Russia. In January, the Grain Union forecast about one million tonnes of wheat imports during the September 2025 to August 2026 marketing year. Karabanov said practically all of that grain would come from Russia. Cheap wheat crosses a long shared border into Kazakhstan’s main grain belt. That can lower costs for millers and poultry farms, but it also undercuts growers before they sell their harvest. The ban shifts that pressure rather than removing it. Baimurat Group CEO Daniyar Kuanshaliyev called the measure a “crude administrative intervention” that could raise raw-material prices. He argued that reduced competition for wheat could leave processors paying more while traders and exporters compete for the same domestic stocks. Karabanov takes a less alarmed view. “We generally oppose various bans and restrictions,” he said, but the rail exemptions should limit the number of businesses harmed. He said the clearest cost could be higher transport charges, since trucks are often cheaper than trains for journeys under 500 kilometres. Kazakhstan imposed a broad wheat ban in 2024 after Russian grain continued entering despite earlier controls. TCA’s reporting on the earlier grain dispute found that more than 1.1 million tonnes had arrived in six months before Astana tightened the rules. Russia then restricted Kazakh grain and other agricultural products, citing phytosanitary concerns. Exporters said the effects spread beyond the stated products. “Trucks loaded with those products are being turned away at the border,” Karabanov told Reuters in October 2024. The cycle continued in 2025. Russia reinstated restrictions on Kazakh wheat, flaxseed, and lentils from April, while allowing sealed rail transit. The Grain Union said Moscow had lifted one set of restrictions the previous day, then introduced a new ban with altered terms. That history does not prove Moscow will retaliate this time. Kazakhstan’s order is country-neutral and preserves supplies...