During his working trip to the United States, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Askar Mamin on December 9 met with the Governor of Nebraska Pete Ricketts and the President of Valmont Industries, the market leader in irrigation systems, Stephen Kaniewski.
The parties discussed the prospects for cooperation and exchange of experience in the application of high technologies for machine irrigation, telecommunications, renewable energy, infrastructure construction, as well as agricultural science and education, the prime minister’s press service reported.
Following the negotiations, in the presence of Mamin and Ricketts, an Agreement was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, Kusto Group and Valmont Industries on the principles of effective irrigation and improving agricultural productivity in Kazakhstan.
The document provides for the construction in Kazakhstan in 2022 of a plant for production of Valley Pivot Irrigation Machines with a capacity of 1 thousand frontal and circular irrigation machines per year. The US irrigation technologies will increase crop productivity and reduce agricultural costs by 50%.
In the future, it is planned to expand the production of the enterprise in Kazakhstan to the release of equipment for telecommunications, renewable energy and infrastructure construction. Products manufactured in Kazakhstan will not only meet the needs of the domestic market, but also develop export potential to foreign markets.
“The use of advanced technologies by Valmont Industries will have a multiplier effect on crop production and the creation of a forage base for livestock production,” said Mamin.
The prime minister said that Kazakhstan plans to increase the area of irrigated land from 1.4 million to 2 million hectares by 2022, and to 3 million hectares by 2030.
The prime minister visited the headquarters of Valmont Industries and got acquainted with the production capacities and technological process of the enterprise.
