Kazakhstan is betting on artificial rain as the answer to its prayers for more water. As one of the regions worst hit by global warming, Central Asia is scrambling for ways to keep its crops alive during prolonged droughts.
Cloud seeding will be used in the Turkistan region, which did not see rainfall for a full eight months in 2025.
“Kazakhstan is making a practical step towards the formation of the new system of climate sustainability. This is the first time a project of this magnitude, aimed at increasing precipitation, has been launched,” said Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Development, Zhaslan Madiyev, at a ceremony to launch the Rain Enforcement Project.
What is cloud seeding?
Clouds need tiny water or ice droplets called nuclei to make rain. The weather modification method uses planes and ground-based cannons to shoot particles into clouds making more nuclei, attracting moisture that falls as snow and rain.
