In Chon-Alay Farmers Test Greenhouse Potato Hybrid Cultivation Amid Climate Challenges

CHON-ALAY – The Project Group on Agricultural Value Chain Development has finalized the results of its training and technological monitoring of farming enterprises in the Chon-Alay district. Along with strict adherence to classical standards, experts recorded a shift by local producers toward innovative greenhouse methods to protect crops against drought.

The main technological event of the season was the launch of an experimental plot for growing potato hybrids in protected ground (greenhouses), initiated by local farmer S. Abdybaliev. This innovative site has already been placed under special analytical control by the experts. The transition to greenhouse experiments is driven by the urgent need to create a controlled environment amid rising climate risks.

Climate Adaptation and Technologies:

Innovation Against Drought: The launch of the greenhouse complex serves as a direct response to the region’s main environmental challenges—namely, lack of rainfall and regular droughts that complicate open-field farming.

Professional Training: 100% of the audited farmers in the region successfully completed a specialized training program led by the project’s core agronomic expert, allowing them to rapidly deploy new approaches in practice.

Strict Agronomic Control: In open fields, farmers continue to precisely follow technological guidelines: planting deadlines have been met, and ammophos application rates range from 400 to 900 kg/ha, utilizing proper crop rotation based on perennial grasses.

Despite the successful implementation of protected ground cultivation, biological threats remain an acute issue for open-field farms. Experts are raising alarms over the massive spread of a hazardous weed—Field Sow Thistle (“sut zhalbyrak”). Possessing a powerful root system, this weed critically depletes moisture and nutrient reserves in the soil, nullifying soil reclamation efforts.

Because traditional mechanical and chemical methods currently used by farmers show low efficiency, the project team is preparing to launch an emergency agronomic consultation program. In the near future, the primary focus will be placed on training farmers in integrated plant protection systems to safeguard both experimental greenhouse crops and classic seed potato fields across the region.