ASTANA. July 25. KAZINFORM Kazakhstan may lose 353,000 hectares (872,282 acres) of planted grains, or 2 percent of the total, from drought, Agriculture Minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov said.

One third of the grain crop is in good condition, 55 percent is satisfactory and 12 percent is bad, Mamytbekov said at a government meeting in Astana today. In Kostanay, 18 percent of the crop is in good condition, he said. The grain crop will be 12.8 million metric tons this year, down from a record 26.9 million tons last year, according to the government, Kazinform quotes Bloomberg.