The purpose of this paper was to assess the impact of grazing methods on the indicators of vegetation and soil cover of pastures located in the semi-desert zone in the West of Kazakhstan. The experiment was carried out on 3 pastures with different grazing methods, and a reference plot with no...

In developed countries, the ideas of ecological agricultural production, continuous cycle, and waste-free production technologies have gained popularity. The effect from the production and consumption of ecological agricultural products is determined by the least harm to the environment, increasing the competitiveness of products, and receiving additional profit from increasing prices for higher quality products. The production of organically safe products is based on the principle of biologization, i.e., the widespread use of biological preparations, a high proportion of legumes (sources of nitrogen), and avoiding chemical plant protection products, transgenic plants, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This study aims to increase the productivity of safflower and improve the physicochemical and biological indicators of dark chestnut soils through the use of biologized technologies in the organic farming system. Standard methods for assessment and statistical analysis of physical and chemical parameters of soils were carried out in zone 1 of West Kazakhstan. This made it possible to identify the most optimal technology for the cultivation of safflower. The study results showed that under the influence of the phytomeliorative action of safflower in the 020cm layer of dark chestnut soils, one could note an increase in the content of nitrate nitrogen by 5.95, an increase in the content of mobile phosphorus by 5.22, and soil loosening by 0.010g/cm³, with the structure of the soil being 64.43. Strong biological activity of the soil was established by the crops of safflower. The highest yield of safflower oil about 0.23t/ha with an oil content of 30.1 was obtained using the biologized technology option. The use of biological technology, along with biological yields, increases oil yield by 0.06t/ha or 28.06.

In studies aimed at expanding the range of the organic farming system, the authors studied the comparative productivity of such field crops like barley and safflower cultivated with the use of traditional and biologized technologies. The use of biological preparations and organic biofertilizers...

Kazakhstan’s pasture, as a spatially extended agricultural resource for sustainable animal husbandry, requires effective monitoring with connected rational uses. Ranking number nine globally in terms of land size, Kazakhstan, with an area of about three million square km, requires proper assessment technologies for climate change and anthropogenic impact to track the pasture lands’ degradation. Remote sensing (RS)-based adaptive approaches for assessing pasture load, combined with field cross-checking of pastures, have been applied to evaluate the quality of vegetation cover, economic potential, service function, regenerative capacity, pasture productivity, and changes in plant species composition for five pilot regions in Kazakhstan. The current stages of these efforts are presented in this project report. The pasture lands in five regions, including Pavlodar (8,340,064 ha), North Kazakhstan (2,871,248 ha), Akmola (5,783,503 ha), Kostanay (11,762,318 ha), Karaganda (19,709,128 ha), and Ulytau (18,260,865 ha), were evaluated. Combined RS data were processed and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction of Vegetation Cover (FCover), Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR), Canopy Chlorophyll Content (CCC), and Canopy Water Content (CWC) indices were determined, in relation to the herbage of pastures and their growth and development, for field biophysical analysis. The highest values of LAI, FCOVER, and FARAR were recorded in the Akmola region, with index values of 18.5, 126.42, and 53.9, and the North Kazakhstan region, with index values of 17.89, 143.45, and 57.91, respectively. The massive 2024 spring floods, which occurred in the Akmola, North Kazakhstan, Kostanay, and Karaganda regions, caused many problems, particularly to civil constructions and buildings; however, these same floods had a very positive impact on pasture areas as they increased soil moisture. Further detailed investigations are ongoing to update the flood zones, wetlands, and swamp areas. The mapping of proper flood zones is required in Kazakhstan for pasture activities, rather than civil building construction. The related sustainable permissible grazing husbandry pasture loads are required to develop also. Recommendations for these preparation efforts are in the works.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the influence of mineral fertilizers and methods of basic tillage on the yield and oil content of sunflowers in the north of Kazakhstan. The experiment was conducted in the agricultural experimental Station Zarechnoye limited liability partnership with southern thin chernozem soils. Records and observations of the growth and development of sunflowers were carried out using modern methodological recommendations. The used agricultural technique of sunflower cultivation in the experiments was the one recommended for the study area. The authors studied new sunflower hybrids and different variants for the use of mineral fertilizers and methods of basic tillage. The paper concludes that it is important to use new sunflower hybrids Sumatra, Suzuka and Sumiko which achieve yields at the level of 1.34-1.46 c/ha with an oil content of 48.52-48.88%, which is the scientific novelty of the study. The combined use of mineral fertilizers according to the scheme N₄₀P₄₀ in the autumn + N₂₀P₂₀ in spring when sowing + N₁₀P₁₀ fertilizing in the conditions of the study zone increased the yield and harvest of sunflower oil to 1.34 and 0.65 t/ha. The no-till technique improved the biometric and productive yield indicators. In this variant, a high yield of sunflower was obtained (1.31 t/ha) with a high oil content (48.49%) and a higher oil yield of 0.63 t/ha was provided. These improvements in the quality and productivity of sunflower as the main oilseed crop are of significant importance for food security and sustainable agriculture in Northern Kazakhstan.