Kazakhstan is expanding the use of modern irrigation systems. Water-saving technologies are now used on 36% of the country’s irrigated land. According to the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, drip irrigation ranks first. Over the past three years, the area under drip irrigation has grown nearly sixfold to 254,000 hectares. Sprinkler systems are used on another 379,000 hectares. These technologies can reduce irrigation water consumption by one-third. They are being adopted most actively in the Turkistan, Almaty and Kyzylorda regions. Domestic production of irrigation equipment is also expanding. Over the past two years, the number of manufacturers has increased from four to seven, with their combined production capacity fully meeting domestic demand. To accelerate the transition to modern irrigation methods, the government has also expanded support measures for farmers. More than 214 billion tenge has been allocated over three years for investment subsidies for water-saving technologies – nearly four times more than in the previous period.
«In his state-of-the-nation address, the President set a specific goal: to expand the use of water-saving technologies to cover at least 150,000 hectares of irrigated land. Over the past three years, these efforts have been stepped up, and government support measures have also been expanded. While 30,000 hectares were covered annually starting in 2023, this figure increased to 150,000 hectares in 2024. The next goal is to introduce water-saving technologies on more than 1.3 million hectares by 2030. This will allow us to save more than two billion cubic metres of water,» said Talgat Momyshev, Kazakh Vice Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation.
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