Kazakhstan: KazAgroFinance continues support to greenhouse sector
Over the past few years, the Kazachstan government from president Nursultan Nazarbayev has expressed its concerns and commitment to the development of local greenhouse production. As a result of this policy, the government has helped many Kazakh entrepreneurs, farmers and growers to establish their own operations, supported with the help of subsidies and finance via KazAgroFinance. As part of the campaign for the upcoming elections, president Nazarbayev paid a visit to the 11 hectare Adleya Greenhouse, one of the successful projects forthcoming from this Kazakh strategy. This shows that Kazakhstan will continue the support for the establishment of domestic greenhouse horticulture.
The greenhouse of Adelya was built in 2013 by French greenhouse builder Richel Group. It has a state of the art 12.80 meter structure with a ridge height of 8.5 meters. The double vents are equipped with insect mesh and the entire structure is outfitted with double, insulated poly. The operations consist of 2 greenhouses of 5.5 hectares, one propagation greenhouse of 5000 square meters and a packing and facility warehouse of 5000 square meters. What makes the greenhouse company extra special is the fact that it has supplemental lighting installed in order to produce year round. As well as this the grower is using heating boilers, a heat storage tank and a CO2 dosing system.
Since 2014, the greenhouse is producing tomatoes and cucumbers. According to Brice Richel of the Richel group, the project in Shymkent is a good example of the commitment and the potential in Kazachstan. “The governmental support from KazAgroFinance made it possible to start up this project”, he said. Brice explained that the greenhouses provide a lot of fresh, quality vegetables to the local market. “The farmers are achieving good prices, especially because their products can easily compete with imported goods, due to the quality being so good.”
Richel stressed that Kazachstan provides more potential for greenhouse development towards the future. There are a few reasons for that, and one of them is to do with the climate. “The summers in Kazakhstan provide a lot of light, while the nights tend to stay cooler; night temperatures in the summer are modest, which provides a generative growth for the plants. On the other hand, the winters can get as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius, but still with affordable energy in the South of the country, greenhouse growing is feasible.”
Another reason for the potential in Kazachstan has got to do with the increasing efficiency of the infrastructure. “In Kazachstan a lot of improvement is going on in regards to infrastructure. A city like Shymkent has good road access to markets like Russia. This also provides opportunities in the market. Together with the support from the government, we expect more greenhouse companies to be established here in the near future.”