Kazakhstan: Aktobe Region to Store Almost 9,000 t of Potatoes in Stabilisation Fund
Aktobe will sell fund potatoes 10–20% below market in the off-season, covering up to half of city demand, as the region expects a 60,000 t crop.
Almost 9,000 tonnes of potatoes will go into the stabilisation fund of Kazakhstan’s Aktobe region this autumn, to be sold during the off-season at prices 10–20% below the market, the national broadcaster 24KZ reported on September 22, 2026. The fund will also hold 2,000 tonnes of carrots, 1,500 tonnes of onions and just over 1,000 tonnes of cabbage, all contracted with growers in advance.
The volume is larger than two years ago. In 2024 the region planned to store 6,208 tonnes of potatoes in the fund, according to Inbusiness.kz.
«If we have 500,000 urban residents, we will cover up to 50% of the population’s consumption. The price is 10, 15 and even 20% below the market», says Snezhanna Kulekenova, head of a department at the Aktobe regional agriculture directorate.
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Growers in the region planted 3,300 hectares of potatoes this spring and 2,100 hectares of carrots, onions, cabbage and beetroot, mostly in Kargaly district and around the city of Aktobe. By September 22 potatoes had been lifted from 1,700 hectares, giving 31,500 tonnes at an average of 18.5 t/ha, according to Nurbek Raiymbayev of the same directorate. The region expects about 60,000 tonnes of potatoes in total, in line with previous years.
One of the fund’s regular suppliers, the Prigorodny farm, planted 196 hectares of potatoes and had harvested half of the area, with yields close to 20 t/ha. Its executive director Stepan Gaidar expects to finish lifting between October 5 and 10. The farm grows mainly Gala, a variety he values because it keeps until the next harvest.
Storage quality is what makes such a fund work. Potatoes bought in September have to stay sound until spring, when prices usually peak, so buyers favour varieties with long dormancy and store only well-cured, undamaged tubers. The region has also set aside more than 2 billion tenge this year in crop subsidies, including support for seed, fertiliser and herbicide costs.
The 2026 figures come from one report and have not been confirmed by a second independent source.
Source: 24KZ, September 22, 2026; Inbusiness.kz, August 2024 (2024 plan)
Photo: Potatoes in cold storage (illustrative, not Kazakhstan). Whispyhistory / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
