In Kazakhstan, since the beginning of April, chemical treatment against locusts has been carried out on an area of approximately 385,000 hectares. The largest volume of work was in the Turkestan and Zhambyl regions.
WHICH REGIONS HAVE ALREADY BEEN TREATED
According to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), chemical treatments against locusts began on 7 April 2026 in the southern regions of the country. This was announced at a briefing of the Central Communications Service by Vice-Minister of Agriculture Yermek Kenzhekhanuly, reports MIA "Kazinform".
According to him, the following areas have been treated to date:
- Turkestan Region — 287,000 hectares;
- Zhambyl Region — 93,000 hectares;
- Zhetysu Region — 3,700 hectares;
- Almaty Region — 600 hectares;
- Kyzylorda Region — 5 hectares.
Pesticides of various phytosanitary purposes are used for treatment, including "Thiamethrin", "Diuron" and "Karat Super".
WHAT WAS REPORTED ABOUT THE BORDER TERRITORIES
As noted by Yermek Kenzhekhanuly, specialists from Kazakhstan, together with representatives of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, conducted a survey of border areas. Following the checks, no locust outbreak sites were detected.
At the same time, joint surveys with Russia and China, according to the Vice-Minister, are planned for the end of May 2026.
HOW THE FIGHT AGAINST PESTS IS COORDINATED
The ministry reported that operational headquarters have been created in all regions, chaired by deputy akims of the regions.
The headquarters coordinate protective measures and control the progress of treatment.
CONTEXT
In October 2025, the FBRK editorial team looked into what happened to the 46 agricultural drones purchased by the MoA in 2024 for 368 million tenge. At that time, more than half of the fleet was under warranty repair with the supplier, flight hour data was not provided, and the economics of using the equipment raised serious questions.
In April 2026, the department disclosed additional data on the fleet of 107 drones purchased for phytosanitary work (46 agricultural drones) and monitoring (57 survey drones).
According to the MoA, 27 agricultural drones previously under warranty repair in China were returned to service in January 2026. The total flight time of the agricultural drones in 2025 amounted to 5,300 hours, and the treated area reached 52,483 hectares in 11 regions of Kazakhstan.