This year, 16,000 hectares of melons and 4,000 hectares of watermelons have been planted on irrigated land and vegetables on 3,300 hectares in the Zhetysai district.
The "Al-Farabi" farm in Abay rural district, covering 45 hectares, has begun harvesting its "Bakinka" melons ahead of others. Due to the rainy weather, melons planted in February ripened in 90 days instead of the usual 65. Now, the farm is exporting its produce to Russia at a decent price of 1.23 euros per kilogram.
"This year, our melons are a bit delayed. The demand is good. Despite the challenges with the water supply, there was no shortage. We handle the loading and shipping of our products ourselves, without any intermediaries," said Al-Farabi Kuzenbayev, the chairman of the farming enterprise.
Last year, 14,000 hectares of melons and 4,600 hectares of watermelons were planted in the Zhetysai district. The total production volume reached 514,300 tons.
Source: informburo.kz