Priural’e
Karachaganak is one of the largest fields in the world and occupies a territory of 32,000 hectares, which are suitable for agricultural purposes. This is why one of the goals for the nature protection operations as conducted by KPO is the study of the manmade impact of field development on the soil.
With this purpose, in 2004, scientific research was conducted on the fertility of the soil and the development of crop technology within and around the Karachaganak field. The subjects of the research included soil, agricultural land, planting volumes and agricultural vehicles. The following goals were set – to provide a modern character of the state to the soil surface and agricultural production, to uncover the manmade factors for the negative impact of the development of the field on the fertility of the land, and quality of the planted products, to determine the main directions for the intensification of sowing and to develop environmentally safe technology for agricultural operations, to determine variants and types that are the most resilient to the pollution at Karachaganak, to develop recommendations to preserve and recover the fertility of the land.
The West Kazakhstan State University, which won a tender for its execution, is implementing the project; the Project Leader is S. Dzhubatyrova. Various types of crops were planted on the 4-hectare land sector. Top-grade seeds were planted from the agricultural station, 3 types of wheat are used including Svetlana, Volgouralskaya and Saratovskaya 42; barley Donetskiy 8, Mirny oats, Yubileyny chick peas, Milyutonnesky safflowers, sunflower Skorospely 66 and Sudan plant Odesskaaya 25. An entire complex of work was conducted other than the use of chemicals and toxic materials. We did not use expensive technology; this is why we have equal working conditions, as do local farms. Since climatic conditions change slightly year on year, the project was planned for 3 years and its results will be determined by data on averages.
The Director of the Burlin District Akimat Agricultural Department, V. Filimonov, provided a quality evaluation on the experimental research.
“This year is not the best for agriculture, despite this, the harvests at the experimental plots is expected to be higher than average, which we cannot say for our farms. This is an example that by observing agricultural rules, even during bad years, good harvests can be collected. The development of agriculture is a labour consuming process, which requires large investment. The current sad state of many farms can be explained by various reasons. For the most part, individual farms are weak. Our ‘latest’ combines are 10 years old. Losses of harvests occur as a result of these delays, and there is also a lack of funds, and it is impossible to buy seeds and fertilisers. Currently, we are not self-sufficient in terms of grain and foods. State subsidies to agriculture are dissolved in the sea of funds deficit. Foreign companies do not have the obligation to take care of and be responsible for the nearby farms. Even more so since they have no connection to their problems."
