In the Republic of Kazakhstan, sunflower seed reserves for processing have run out, although official statistics indicate significant volumes of this oilseed crop in the country. Representatives of the National Association of Oilseed Processors declared this during a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Several issues related to the industry were discussed during the meeting, and one of the most important was the problem of the accuracy of statistical data on agricultural crop stocks.
"The presence of sunflower seeds exists only on paper, in reality, there are none. Even in neighboring Russia, sunflower seed reserves are depleted. According to the data from Rosstat and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, by the end of July, they do not exceed 210 thousand tons (just 1% of the total harvest), despite the fact that the gross sunflower seed harvest in Russia amounted to 17 million tons. However, statistics in Kazakhstan show that by the end of the season, there are 255 thousand tons of sunflower seed reserves for sale (more than 25% of the total harvest), while some oil extraction plants in the country have already ceased operations in early July due to the lack of seeds," - stated the National Association of Oilseed Processors.
During the meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Chairman of the National Association of Oilseed Processors, Yadykar Ibragimov, suggested amending the legislation to enable the Bureau of National Statistics to conduct random checks of agricultural crop stocks on-site. Industry representatives believe that this will help identify errors in accounting and take appropriate measures to correct them. In turn, the Ministry of Agriculture acknowledged the problem of inflated figures in agricultural statistics.
Previously, oil producers raised the issue of overstating sunflower seed stocks in official statistics.