What needs to be done so that the legendary Kazakh apples "Aport" with an incomparable aroma and weighing half a kilo each return to the shelves and begin to be exported?
The Ministry of Agriculture and the National Agrarian Scientific and Educational Center (NANOC) have developed a program for the revival of these apples.
"Aport" is a rather whimsical variety of apple tree that requires special conditions of cultivation and care. High–quality fruits can be obtained only in gardens growing at an altitude of 850 - 1250 meters above sea level. And there are not so many such sites in the foothills of Almaty and the nearby Almaty region. Unlike other types of apple orchards, which come to fruiting after 4-6 years, the aport needs 8-9 years. Nevertheless, the Kazakh variety of apples, due to its qualitative characteristics, is in great demand among the residents of the country and is admired by foreign ones.
The Aport revival program is designed for 2024-2028. The program operators will be the Ministry of Agriculture and NANOC, and scientific, technological and methodological support will be provided by the Kazakh Research Institute of Horticulture. Private investors and specialized nursery farms will participate in the implementation of the apple revival program.
The program includes growing the required number of seedlings to start full-scale commercial production of apple orchards. At the first stage, in 2024, the seeds of the Sievers apple tree were harvested and the development of draft national standards for the cultivation of Kazakhstani Aport was started. In 2025, planting of seedlings will begin in the Talgar regional branch of the KazNII of Fruit and Vegetable Growing on 10 hectares, which will become a mother-cuttings garden for nursery farms.
In the next 2 years, it is planned to grow a sufficient number of seedlings for laying a garden already on an area of 100 hectares. After that, it will be possible to scale the production of "Aport" among private gardeners.
As the representative of the Talgar regional branch of the KazNII of Fruit and Vegetable Growing Sagi Soltanbekov noted at the meeting, there is a necessary historical and breeding base for the revival of the apple variety in Kazakhstan.
"The scientists of the KazNII of Fruit and Vegetable Production began work on the revival of the Aport back in 2011. Today, there are more than 1 thousand species of Sivers apple trees, among which, according to the results of DNA analysis, scientists have selected 11 species for the production of the Aporta blood-red variety. These species were improved and in 2015 seedlings were planted on an area of 5 hectares, patents were obtained for the technology of reproduction of the Aport variety. The experimental garden, founded in 2015, began to bear fruit in 2023, individual fruits reached a weight of 300-500 grams. This year we received 6 tons of "blood-red Aport"," he noted.
Serik Zhumangarin approved the draft program for the revival of "Aport", which includes the popularization of a unique Kazakhstani apple variety. The Deputy Prime Minister also instructed to involve students of agricultural universities in the implementation of the program.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/moa/press/news/details/877858