Analyzing the impact of competitiveness factors on increasing grain production in Kazakhstan and Russia.

The main research objective of this study is to conduct a detailed econometric analysis of the factors affecting the competitiveness of cereal production in Northern Kazakhstan and the Volga region of Russia, focusing on climatic conditions, irrigation systems, and soil cultivation technologies. The assessment of grain production competitiveness was considered for the period 2018-2020 in the context of the following indicators: grain yield, grain sown area, and gross grain harvest. The data analysis also included indicators of annual domestic grain consumption and total grain production in Kazakhstan and Russia. The study found that over the past few years, in the Volga region of Russia, wheat yields have been stably higher than those in Northern Kazakhstan, where the situation in grain production remains unstable. In the forthcoming decades, the production of grains is expected to exert a substantial influence on both regional and global food security. Russia's grain production is the most important direction of national agriculture, which has the greatest potential for development in the near future. Kazakhstan, in turn, is poised to improve its competitiveness, given various opportunities to foster the growth of grain production. However, there is a need to modernize agricultural technologies and introduce climate-resistant agronomic systems.