"The harvest, cultivated with the blood and sweat of our farmers, is perishing," wrote Serik Egizbaev in his parliamentary inquiry addressed to Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin, as reported by a correspondent from the Kapital.kz business information center.
"The joy of this year's record harvest is daily overshadowed by the concerns of villagers about its fate. The 'Aul Party' faction and members of the Agricultural Committee receive a constant stream of letters and personal appeals... Sad videos of grain piles buried under snow in the steppe, and queues of trucks unable to access grain receiving points, have flooded all social media. For more than a month, there have been discussions about the problems of delivering sugar beets to processing plants in the south!" – he stated.
The deputy reported that representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture were invited to the Agricultural Committee meeting, "but we did not receive clear answers, and this is not the fault of the invited Ministry of Agriculture employees." According to Serik Egizbaev, the answers regarding the fate of the harvest depend on the coordinated position of many ministries, primarily from the financial and economic block.
"Dear Serik Makashuly, knowing your rational and measured approach to solving emerging problems and your willingness to work with deputies to find solutions and respond to the challenges of the 'wild market,' which has historically arisen due to unsuccessful rural reforms, we believe it is essential to meet in parliament at an expanded meeting of the Agricultural Committee without delay to address all the pressing questions of our villagers," he wrote in his inquiry.
Among the important questions are: 1) Will there be large-scale grain purchases similar to the 2011 harvest when the state bought over 5 million tons of grain from farmers? 2) What actions are being taken to mitigate the situation regarding the collapse of grain purchase prices? 3) What is the decision regarding the extension of loans issued for spring fieldwork and harvesting, at least until next spring? 4) Will the debt owed to farmers for subsidies, which has already exceeded 350 billion tenge, be paid by the end of this year? 5) Is the government considering the possibility of implementing a mutual offset mechanism to reduce bilateral obligations between the state and farmers? 6) How are the issues with the provision of rail cars for uninterrupted grain exports being resolved?
In addition to the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture, the meeting of the Agricultural Committee should necessarily include the heads of the ministries of finance, economy, transport, trade and integration, digital development, as well as representatives from the quasi-public sector.
"Let's provide our agrarians with concrete, honest, and direct answers to all their questions at the planned meeting," suggested the deputy from the 'Aul Party' faction.