Kazakhstan: water-saving irrigation — up to 80% reimbursed

Kazakhstan has raised the reimbursement of the cost of buying and installing water-saving irrigation systems from 60% to 80%, and the subsidy on irrigation water for farms using them from 50% to 85%, the Ministry of Agriculture reported on October 25. KZT 214.6 billion (≈ $475 million) is set aside for investment subsidies for these technologies in 2026–2028.

Key figures

• Reimbursement: 60% → 80%
• Irrigation water: 50% → 85%
• Budget: KZT 214.6 billion (≈ $475 million)
• Irrigated land: 1.6 million ha
• 44% of it water-saving
• 2030 target: 1.3 million ha

Details

Vice Minister of Agriculture Nazgul Khatepova presented the support measures at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) round table on modern agriculture in China. She said the government is steadily expanding financial support to speed up farmers' move to modern irrigation technology. At the same time, Kazakhstan is developing its own production of irrigation equipment and improving water resource management.

By the numbers

• Irrigated land in the country: 1.6 million ha.
• Water-saving technologies are used on 702.3 thousand ha, about 44% of the irrigated area.
• In 2025, modern irrigation systems saved about 874 million cubic meters of irrigation water.
• 2030 target: 1.3 million ha under water-saving irrigation and savings of up to 2.2 billion cubic meters of water a year.
• Investment subsidies for 2026–2028: KZT 214.6 billion (≈ $475 million).

Context

Kazakhstan proposed that SCO countries set up a regional platform for sharing water-saving farming practices, involving government agencies, research institutions, agricultural universities, equipment makers and farmers. Proposed areas of cooperation include drip and sprinkler irrigation, precision farming, digital soil-moisture monitoring, automated irrigation control and preventing salinization of irrigated land.

What it means for buyers

A farm that buys and installs a water-saving irrigation system now gets 80% of the cost reimbursed instead of 60%, so its own share drops from 40% to 20%. Farms using these systems get 85% of the cost of irrigation water subsidized instead of 50%, paying 15% instead of half. The subsidy budget covers 2026–2028, and the area under water-saving irrigation is set to nearly double by 2030.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan