Bakytzhan Sagintayev holds a meeting on water supply and water security in Astana

August 15 in Ukimet Uyi the Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev held a meeting on water supply and water security of the city of Astana and development of irrigated agriculture in Kazakhstan.

At the meeting, the current situation on the reserve sources of water supply was discussed, the issues of reconstruction of the protective dam, the construction of the reservoir, the completion of the clearing and extension of the Yesil river, and a set of measures to protect Astana from flooding with high flood waters were discussed.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 90 million m3 of water are consumed every year in Astana and 60 million m3 are used for environmental releases. Total annual water consumption is 150 million m3. The forecasted consumption by 2020 will be 160 million m3, by 2035 — 180 million m3.

In addition, the development of irrigated agriculture was considered. During the discussion, issues of targeted financing, introduction of water saving technologies and drip irrigation through attracting the funds of national companies and on the principle of public-private partnership, stimulation of agricultural producers receiving state support, as well as increasing the share of subsidies for reimbursement of costs for the creation of irrigation systems and drip irrigation to 70% were touched upon.

It should be noted that the introduction of drip irrigation will save up to 40% of water, reduce the amount of fertilizer to 50%, since they are introduced directly into the root zone together with irrigation, and also increase yield by 1.5-3 times. The use of sprinklers, in turn, will increase the yield of agricultural crops by 1.5-2 times.

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