Kazakhstan may revise grain-exports forecast on satellite checks
ASTANA. November 14. KAZINFORM Regional authorities in Kazakhstan may have overstated the size of the grains crop in the country, the agriculture ministry said, citing satellite monitoring.
Kazakhstan may cut its grain export forecast, currently 7 million to 8 million metric tons for the marketing year that started July 1, if it's confirmed that the crop figures have been exaggerated, Muslim Umiryayev, deputy agriculture minister, said yesterday at a news conference in the capital, Astana.
The regional bodies put the grain crop in the three main growing areas, Northern Kazakhstan, Akmola and Kostanai, at 11.2 million tons, while the satellite monitoring suggested 9.8 million tons, according to the ministry, Kazinform cites Bloomberg.
"This year the ministry used data from space monitoring for a objective estimate of the crop yield and harvest," Umiryayev said. "The difference is 1.4 million tons."