Kazakhstan bet on barley at the right time

The Statistics Committee of the Ministry expanded the barley acreage in Kazakhstan to a much greater degree than expected, while wheat plantings, on the contrary, ended up below the forecast. So, Kazakh farmers expanded barley plantings for the 2017 harvest by 9.4% against 2016, to 2.08 Ml ha. In addition, net grain yields turned out to be above expectations owing to a lower impurity content in the grain: it equaled 6.7% in 2017 against 8.8% in 2016. Thus, the Kazakh barley crop reached a record 3.3 MMT in 2017. Noteworthy is that Kazakhstan has bet on barley and it could not have done this at a better time, as barley export prices hit new highs this season. In view of the price upturn and surging production of Kazakh barley, its exports set new records. Kazakhstan within the first four months in MY 2017/18 than exported 56% more a year ago.