Farmers in the Pavlodar region are facing a crisis of overproduction of carrots, leaving tens of thousands of tons stuck in storage and rotting. The main reason is the lack of markets. According to farmers, quarantine certificates were not issued from mid-January, blocking exports.
During this bureaucratic delay, Russian retailers found other suppliers, while Kazakhstan's southern regions were flooded with Russian carrots, leaving local produce without buyers.
As a result, prices dropped to 50-60 tenge per kilogram (€0.10-0.12), but even at these low prices, the carrots are not selling. One farmer reported having 1,400 tons of carrots in storage, with about 30% already thrown away.
Farms that also raise livestock are using spoiled carrots as animal feed, while others are forced to dump them in landfills, suffering significant financial losses.
Regional authorities acknowledge the problem. The Department of Agriculture has sent requests to relevant ministries, regional administrations, and social-entrepreneurial corporations for assistance in selling the produce. However, the situation remains unresolved, and farmers fear that next year they will face the same crisis, but with a shortage of seeds and high planting costs.
Source: tengrinews.kz