Kazakhstan expects ample 2026 potato crop while seasonal imports continue
Kazakhstan’s potato harvest is expected to meet domestic demand in 2026, supported by higher yields and expanded planting in organized farms. Imports continue during the May-June gap between the depletion of stored supplies and the arrival of early potatoes.
Harvest advances with higher yields
Kazakhstan expects another ample potato harvest in 2026, although published estimates differ on whether production will merely match or exceed last year’s result. Deputy Agriculture Minister Nazgul Khatepova said, according to Ulysmedia.kz, that the ministry expects output to remain close to the 2.8 million tonnes harvested in 2025. DKNews.kz, citing ministry data, reported that the crop is likely to surpass the 2025 level because both yields and planted area have increased.
More than 1.6 million tonnes had already been collected from over 62,600 hectares while harvesting continued, DKNews.kz reported. The average yield reached 255.2 centners per hectare, compared with 222.5 centners per hectare in 2025. Organized farms expanded their potato area by 5,400 hectares, from 84,500 hectares in 2025 to 89,900 hectares in 2026, an increase of about 6.4%. DKNews.kz said these conditions could support a final harvest above 3 million tonnes, while noting that drought or prolonged rain during the growing or harvesting season could reduce the result.
Domestic output covers annual consumption
Kazakhstan’s domestic potato requirement exceeds 2 million tonnes a year and is fully covered by national production, Khatepova said. The country’s operating vegetable storage facilities have combined capacity of about 2.6 million tonnes, sufficient to hold nearly all the volume needed by the domestic market. These figures indicate that imports are not driven by an annual production deficit.
Purchases from neighboring countries instead rise during the seasonal supply gap. Khatepova identified May and June as the period when stored stocks are running out but locally grown early potatoes have not yet reached the market. The government is increasing the area planted with early potatoes each year to reduce this gap. Imports therefore serve as a short-term balancing mechanism, even when Kazakhstan produces more potatoes over the full year than it consumes.
Farm and retail prices remain far apart
Pavlodar remains the leading production region. DKNews.kz listed output of 711,600 tonnes there, followed by 384,700 tonnes in Karaganda, 258,600 tonnes in Turkestan, 225,700 tonnes in Zhambyl and 206,800 tonnes in Almaty Region. In 2026, organized farms in Pavlodar planted 28,500 hectares with potatoes. Farm-gate prices were reported at 80-100 tenge per kilogram in Pavlodar and an average of 100-110 tenge in Karaganda, compared with a national average retail price of 217 tenge per kilogram. Transport, storage, marketing costs and retail margins account for the difference.
Trade statistics may also be complicated by unofficial flows. Ulysmedia.kz cited Baizhan Ualkhanov, head of the Union of Potato and Vegetable Growers, as saying that Russian potatoes can enter Kazakhstan and subsequently be shipped to Uzbekistan as Kazakh product. He argued that this practice inflates recorded exports and can prompt concerns about domestic shortages even when local farmers retain unsold stocks. At the time of his statement, Ualkhanov estimated remaining inventories in some regions at 35-40%. For producers and traders, the central issue is therefore not total annual availability but the timing, storage and documented origin of supply.
