Agricultural innovations to increase dairy and meat export: Nazarbayev

President Nursultan Nazarbayev spoke in support of farming and introduction of agricultural innovations in his Friday State-of-the-Union Address, Tengrinews reports, citing Interfax-Kazakstan. In his speech, President Nazarbayev addressed development of dairy and meat production and noted that the future lies in expansion of Kazakhstan capacity of exporting these products to other countries in the Central Asian region. The President believe that to ensure development of the farming sector, farmers “must have direct access to long-term financing and sales markets”. Understanding the dangers that farmers face with loan for development of their business, the President recommended providing protection to borrowers in the agricultural sector. “Creation of an efficient credit insurance system is a vital need in this matter,” Nazarbayev added. The Head of the State talked about development of environmentally friendly technologies as a part of the Green Economy Concept, which advocates sustainable development of the economy through avoiding depletion of resources. President Nazarbayev proposed ensuring a 15% increase in cultivated lands that use water saving technologies by 2030. “We have to develop agricultural science and create agro-innovative clusters,” the President said. He also called Kazakhstan to take advantage of genetically modified, drought resistant cultures. “People should not be afraid of (genetically modified products) because they do not know much about them. Genetically modified products will be rapidly spread throughout the world,” Nazarbayev concluded.