Abstract
Abstract This study evaluated the agronomic and economic performance of chemical, biological, agrotechnical and integrated crop protection strategies in field conditions in southern Kazakhstan between 2023 and 2024. A randomised field experiment was conducted across five farms with a total area of 50 hectares, including wheat, maize and barley. Each crop was subdivided into replicated treatment plots (chemical, biological, agrotechnical, integrated protection and untreated control), with the treatments being assigned at random within each field. Phytopathogens were identified through visual assessments of disease incidence and severity, followed by laboratory confirmation via PCR diagnostics, microscopy, spectrophotometry, and chromatographic analysis. Fungal pathogens predominated, accounting for 88.4% of pathogens detected in wheat, 71.1% in maize and 70.2% in barley in 2023. The integrated approach significantly increased yields compared to the individual strategies and the control plots (wheat: F(3, 16) = 25.12, p < 0.001; maize: F(3, 16) = 25.12, p < 0.001; barley: F(3, 16) = 18.93, p < 0.001). An economic evaluation demonstrated that the integrated protection strategy yielded the highest net returns, with additional revenue of 12,300-12,750 KZT/ha for wheat and 15,400-16,200 KZT/ha for maize compared to the control. The return on investment was 1.35-1.42 for the integrated strategy compared to 1.12-1.18 for chemical-only treatments. The findings show that combining chemical, biological and agrotechnical measures improves the stability of crop yields and financial performance under local agroecological conditions. This supports the economic viability of integrated crop protection.