Farms and greenhouses in Kazakhstan: climate, subsidies, exports to China and land rules

Why agriculture in Kazakhstan interests investors

The main reason is the neighbour. China buys Kazakh animal feed, vegetable oils, flax and sunflower seeds, and rapeseed oil. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, farm exports to China grew 35.3% in 2025 to reach $1.43 billion, and rose another 82.4% in the first quarter of 2026. Vice Minister of Agriculture Yermek Kenzhekhanuly: "China remains one of Kazakhstan's key strategic partners in agriculture."

There is domestic demand too. The population grows by more than 200,000 a year, and Almaty and its suburbs add tens of thousands of residents. A greenhouse near the city wins on short logistics: vegetables reach the shelf in hours, not days.

Almaty Region's climate: what you can grow

The climate is sharply continental: hot, sunny summers and frosty winters. In open fields around Almaty, orchards have always been strong, including the famous Almaty aport apple, along with vegetables, melons, and grains and oilseeds in the steppe part of the region. The foothills suit berries and fruit trees well.

For greenhouses the sun is a plus and winter a minus: heating becomes the main cost from November to March. In the south of the country, in Turkestan Region and Shymkent, winters are milder and the greenhouse sector is large, which shows in the volume of subsidies paid out there.

• Greenhouses: tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, salad greens, strawberries, seedlings
• Open field: apples and other fruit, berries, vegetables, melons
• For export to China: oilseeds (flax, sunflower, rapeseed), feed, livestock products under the signed protocols

Can a foreigner buy or lease farmland in Kazakhstan

No. Under the Land Code, foreigners, stateless persons and legal entities with foreign participation are barred from both owning and leasing agricultural land. Amendments in 2021 extended the ban to leases, and leases previously signed with foreigners are not renewed. For Kazakh citizens, a moratorium on private ownership of state farmland runs until 31 December 2026.

What realistically remains for a foreign investor: a partnership with a Kazakh farmer or a company with no foreign share in its capital, where you contribute money under a contract and the land stays with them. The second route is a greenhouse or processing plant on non-agricultural land, for example industrial land, if zoning allows it. Both arrangements need to be set up with a lawyer, because a mistake here can cost you the investment.

What subsidies greenhouses and farms get in Kazakhstan

According to Kapital.kz, greenhouse farms are subsidised for off-season electricity, coal and gas costs for one vegetable crop cycle. Local akimats (regional administrations) approve the list of priority crops and the rates, and farm greenhouses must hold a certificate of compliance with production technology. In Turkestan Region and Shymkent, payments under this measure exceeded 900 million ₸.

Separately, the state reimburses farmers for part of the cost of water-saving technology, drip irrigation and sprinklers: 50%, according to officials, with a plan to raise it to 80%. On top of that there are subsidised loans and equipment leasing through state programmes. Check current rates and procedures for 2026 with the Ministry of Agriculture and the regional akimat.

Irrigation water: the main constraint in the south

Water is becoming scarce in southern Kazakhstan. At a government meeting in January 2026, forecast water inflow for the growing season was put at 1–1.5 billion m³, with a risk of a shortfall of up to 1 billion m³. The ministry was instructed to revise water-use limits by region and cut plantings of water-hungry crops.

So when choosing a site, the first thing I ask is where the water will come from: your own permitted well, an irrigation canal with a quota, or mains supply. A greenhouse with drip irrigation and recirculation uses several times less water than an open field, and in dry years that decides whether there is a harvest at all.

Example calculation: a 5,000 m² greenhouse near Almaty

This is an illustrative example based on my own assumptions, not data from a real farm. A heated 5,000 m² greenhouse for tomatoes. Construction with heating, irrigation and utility connections costs about 250 million ₸.

Say the yield is 35 kg per m² a year, about 175 tonnes in total. At an average wholesale price of 600 ₸ per kg, revenue is about 105 million ₸. Heating, electricity, seeds, fertiliser, wages and sales could eat about 70%, leaving roughly 31.5 million ₸. Payback is about 8 years before subsidies. The off-season energy subsidy and cheap gas could shorten that, while a summer price collapse, when the market is flooded with open-field produce, could stretch it.

Risks of agricultural projects: what to watch

• The farmland ban for foreigners: nominee arrangements are illegal and dangerous
• Water: irrigation quotas are being cut, and a well has to be properly registered
• Energy: heating a greenhouse in winter is expensive, and the south lacks power capacity
• Prices: in summer, open-field vegetables drag down greenhouse prices
• Exports to China are only possible under signed protocols and after inclusion in the register
• Weather: frost, hail and drought hit open-field crops
• Subsidies change every year, so building them into the base calculation is risky