The authorities of the West Kazakhstan region are ready to allocate subsidies to support local beekeepers

To produce up to 200 tons of honey per year in the region against the currently available 16 tons, to increase the number of bee colonies by more than 4 times – from 797 to 3,500, respectively, and to create their own, West Kazakhstan honey brand – such tasks were set for themselves by the beekeepers of the WKO, uniting in an agricultural production cooperative with the scientific support of scientists of the local agrarian university – WKATU. In response, the akimat of the region promised honey producers assistance in allocating land plots and material support in the form of subsidies for the purchase of bees.

Ural entrepreneurs discussed the development of beekeeping in the region for the next five-year period at a meeting in the regional akimat together with representatives of the Department of agriculture, scientists of the WKATU, akims of districts with the participation of the first head of the region Gali Iskaliev.

Acting head of the Department of Agriculture of the West Kazakhstan region Satkan Umurzakov said that as of January 1, 2020, according to statistics, 370 beehives were registered in the region, which is 15.6% higher than in the corresponding period of 2019. In general, 16.2 tons of honey were produced in the region.

In January 2021, a meeting with beekeepers of the region was held in the Zhangir Khan ZKATU. The issues of subsidizing beekeeping and further development of this sphere were discussed at the meeting.

As a result, in March of this year, the agricultural production cooperative "Beekeepers of the WKO" was created, which united 37 personal subsidiary farms engaged in beekeeping and having a total of 797 bee colonies.

For the further development of the industry, the beekeepers themselves, together with the scientists of ZKATU, have developed a concept for the development of beekeeping until 2026.

The representative of ZKATU Izimgali Zhubantayev said that the new concept provides for the organization of events for the development of beekeeping in the West Kazakhstan region, honey production, deep processing of bee products, veterinary and sanitary expertise and the study of the quality of honey.

The scientist explained that the main task for them at the moment is to create favorable conditions for beekeeping farms. This will be possible only when the necessary "food base" for bees is created. In the region, it is necessary to sow at least 16,800 hectares of forage "honey" grasses so that bees can pollinate them (according to the calculations of sprayalists. alfalfa should be sown at least 744 ha, safflower-757.5 ha, sunflower-7762.5 ha, phacelia-120 ha, sweet clover-200 ha, mustard-120 ha, esparcet-96 ha). He noted that an average of 25 thousand rubles is spent on sowing 1 hectare of perennial honey grass. tenge, and for sowing sunflower and safflower – 50 thousand tenge.

If there are sown areas with a "green conveyor" of flowering forage crops, it is possible to increase the number of bee colonies in the region to 3,500 in 5 years and produce up to 200 tons of honey.

Izimgali Zhubantayev stressed that the concept provides for a scientific approach to the development of the beekeeping industry – it is the creation of a project office with a specialized place (equipped with the necessary equipment, visual materials, methodological and regulatory framework) to provide consulting services to beekeeping entities; carrying out the work of the laboratory of veterinary and sanitary expertise and honey quality research to provide the industry with qualified personnel capable of carrying out veterinary and sanitary measures at the apiary and monitoring the safety of apiary products. Zhangir Khan ZKATU together with the SEC "Beekeepers of WKO" also plans to conduct training courses for beekeepers.

Now, in order to develop beekeeping in the region, a memorandum of cooperation has already been signed with the association of legal entities "National Union of Beekeepers of Kazakhstan Med-Ara" and Zhangir Khan ZKATU, as well as with the Russian university – Ryazan State Agrotechnological University named after P. A. Kostychev.

In addition, the Department of Agriculture, together with scientists of this university, will conduct extensive explanatory work for beekeepers on an ongoing basis.

According to calculations made by scientists together with businessmen, over 1.1 billion tenge is needed for the development of beekeeping in the period from 2021 to 2025. Most of these funds-over 1 billion tenge-are private investments, which should be invested by businessmen themselves engaged in the production of natural honey, for the purchase of bee colonies and the necessary equipment for production.

Another 71 million tenge is the funds that the local authorities intend to invest in the project in the form of subsidies to beekeepers for the purchase of bee colonies and equipment.

Another 10.9 million tenge are university grants, which ZKATU plans to spend on the development of science.

It is planned that in 5 years the number of members of the SEC is 70 beekeeping farms, and the number of bee colonies will grow from 797 to 3,500, respectively.

Chairman of the SEC of Beekeepers of the WKO Sergey Krivobokov thanked the audience for the constructive support of honey producers and expressed confidence that with the support of scientists of the WKATU and specialists of the Department of Agriculture, the industry will definitely reach a good level of development.

He said that one of the problems of beekeepers not only in our region, but also in Kazakhstan as a whole, is the lack of specialized equipment – semi-trailers for transporting hives during honey collection. Entrepreneurs have to buy them in Russia. It would be ideal for beekeepers if such trailers were made according to their orders and drawings in Uralsk, at one of the local machine-building plants.

Akim of WKO Gali Iskaliyev advised to include this proposal in the concept for the development of beekeeping in the region and suggested that local factories could make such semi-trailers, having orders from entrepreneurs and the necessary draft models.

– There are very few people who do not like honey, so we need to produce this unique product, which has many useful and healing properties, - Gali Iskaliyev noted during the meeting. – Through the media, we want to show that a good concept for the development of the beekeeping industry has been created in the cooperation of beekeepers-practitioners and scientists of WKATU. The goal of this project is one-to give the residents of the West Kazakhstan Region an opportunity to try to realize themselves in a new business - the production of honey. Beekeeping is very well developed in the East Kazakhstan region, many young people are involved in this industry. They have training in practice – how to breed bees, produce honey themselves, earn money from selling it. I believe that we also have all the prerequisites to rise to this level. The prospects for the industry are good. We have an ecologically clean region, it is necessary to use the natural resources that we have, and to breed bees.

The governor of the region stressed that he had deduced a formula for success when talking with local beekeepers: having 50-100 hives, you can get a good income during the year, taking into account the fact that one bee family gives 50-100 kilograms of honey.

The Governor of the West Kazakhstan Region explained that now that the concept of beekeeping development has been created, the akimat of the region will make every effort to develop this industry in the region. The next stage is the approval of this program document by the deputies of the regional maslikhat, so that in the future, at the legislative level, beekeepers can receive state support in the form of subsidies for breeding bee colonies, the purchase of necessary equipment for processing and packaging honey.

– In general, we need to create our own brand of West Kazakhstan honey, which will be recognizable not only in Kazakhstan, but also in the foreign market, - Gali Iskaliyev expressed his wish. – We plan to produce up to 200 tons of natural honey by 2026. I think that it is in our power to do more. For our part, we are ready to help not only in terms of subsidies,but also to provide our beekeepers with land plots for placing hives – not far from reservoirs where there will be various grasses. In the autumn of 2021, we will start helping our entrepreneurs engaged in the production of honey to subsidize their costs. The SEC of beekeepers has already been created, now the most important thing is to attract interested people who want to develop beekeeping in the WKO, join the SEC and work successfully. I think that such SECS can be created in any other industry – the hotel business, catering - to think over concepts for the development of your industry for the next 5-10 years, to calculate profitability. In turn, we are ready to help both in terms of theoretical knowledge and in terms of state support in the form of subsidies.

Lyudmila Kalashnikova,

zhaikpress.kz