Establishing technical equipment zones for crop production in Kazakhstan

Modern Kazakhstan is facing the challenge of lacking its own agricultural machinery industry. During the pre-restructuring period, farm machinery was primarily imported from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, while only 10% of the required range was produced by local enterprises. In this context, the tasks of technical modernization in agricultural production and the creation of a regional machinery system for crop production have become highly relevant. The first step involves grouping all regional agricultural producers into clusters with similar characteristics, which, when compared across groups, show significant differences. The goal is to develop a practical mechanism for field machinery for crop production enterprises, to justify a method for establishing technical equipment zones that can define optimal qualitative and quantitative characteristics for each agricultural entity, and to identify areas where Kazakhstan’s crop production machinery fleet needs renewal. Methods – economic and statistical analysis was used to assess development trends in the agricultural sector’s technical base and the current state of material and technical resources within the agro-industrial complex. Results – the authors propose a new definition of the concept of a "technical re-equipment zone for crop production" and its classification system, enabling more effective segmentation and resolution of issues related to material support in the crop sector. The foundation for building these zones lies in analyzing the relationships between natural and production conditions and the qualitative and quantitative parameters of machinery provision for crop enterprises. Methods of complex structuring, optimization, and post-optimization analysis are used to reveal the underlying patterns. Conclusions – the study identifies ten technical service zones for agricultural production across the country, reflecting regional and zonal characteristics and considering the boundary conditions for sequential actions in determining the required number of technical means.