Kyrgyzstan intends to replenish the reserve stock with wheat of its own production. Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Bakyt Torobaev, said at a meeting in Chui region.
Participants of the meeting discussed implementation of a pilot project on growing own grain products as a strategic reserve of the country.
Bakyt Torobaev noted that earlier wheat was bought in Russia, but the situation should change now.
«As part of the pilot project, it is planned to redirect the money allocated for the purchase of imported wheat to our own production. Farmers are given the task of growing the necessary volumes of food wheat, excluding dependence on grain imports,» Bakyt Torobaev said.
According to official data, Kyrgyzstan annually imports about 100,000 tons of wheat to replenish the State Material Reserves Fund.
«At least 40,000 hectares of arable land will be chosen in the regions on an experimental basis, which will be used in the pilot project. The Material Reserves Fund under the Ministry of Emergency Situations should provide farmers with seeds, fertilizers and the necessary amount of fuel. Local governments, specialists from the Ministry of Agriculture and employees of state banks will control the entire process — from plowing to harvesting the crop grown under the pilot project,» he stressed.
As part of the next stage, the Ministry of Agriculture and the State Material Reserves Fund, together with the Association of Flour Mills, will conduct a detailed analysis of the purchase of grain crops.
