Kazakhstan: Prime Minister Orders Regions to Build Potato Reserves and Prevent Off-Season Price Rises
Olzhas Bektenov told regional governors to stock potatoes and vegetables for winter and spring, with the 2026 harvest expected at about 2.8 million tonnes.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov has instructed regional administrations in Kazakhstan to build reserves of potatoes and other vegetables in advance for the winter and spring period and to prevent shortages and unjustified price rises in the off-season. He gave the instruction at a government meeting on 29 September 2026.
Forming vegetable stocks, above all potatoes, for the winter and spring months remains a priority, the prime minister said, according to reports of the meeting.
Harvest and prices
Kazakhstan expects a potato harvest of about 2.8 million tonnes in 2026. By 18 September farmers had dug 1.9 million tonnes, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, and harvesting continues until the end of October. Prices are already easing on the new crop: potatoes fell by 6.9% in the week to 9 September, according to the Bureau of National Statistics.
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The government is also expanding storage. Kazakhstan has commissioned 95 vegetable storage facilities with a total capacity of 746,000 tonnes under a state construction and modernisation programme, Vice-Minister of Agriculture Azat Sultanov said at the same government meeting. Read our earlier report. In the Aktobe region alone, almost 9,000 tonnes of potatoes will be placed in a stabilisation fund to be sold 10–20% below market in the off-season. Read more.
Why it matters
Kazakhstan is moving from monitoring prices to actively managing them through state reserves, a sign that even a near-record harvest does not remove the risk of winter price spikes. Early accumulation of stabilisation stocks will shape domestic trade flows in Central Asia and may affect the region’s import demand, including supplies from Russia and China.
For growers, the instruction means predictable state purchases this autumn, but also closer government attention to farm-gate pricing during the storage season.
Photo: Harvest season in the fields of Kazakhstan (illustrative). Togzhan Ibrayeva / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
