KH "Chance", Karaganda region, Republic of Kazakhstan
In the "Success Story" section, the Internet portal of the "Potato System" magazine publishes stories about potato-growing enterprises in Russia, as well as near and far abroad, sent by our readers. Today we will talk about the Kazakhstani enterprise KH "Chance".
One of the largest agricultural enterprises in the country. The land bank is about 30 thousand hectares.
Specialization: potato growing, grain production, animal husbandry (pigs, cattle, horses).
It has a powerful fleet of modern agricultural machinery.
About Us
This is a family business where Igor and Galina Zhabyak and their sons, Maxim and Vasily, work.
Igor Vasilyevich Zhabyak tells about the official duties of each member of the working team: “Galina Aleksandrovna is responsible for the economy of the enterprise. Her motto is “Spend as much as we earn,” and we all adhere to this principle. Maxim is primarily a technologist. He wants not just to grow, but to receive a lot of quality products. And Vasily is a techie who perfectly knows how to organize the logistics of all operations. And the main advantage of our family business is that everyone can replace each other, insure each other at the right time. We work for a common result ”.
Starting point
“There was a plot of land of 2-3 hectares, a vegetable garden, and everything began with it,” recalls Igor Zhabyak. "The development of the enterprise went gradually, and the opening of each new direction of work was logically justified."
One of the first activities of the farm was potato growing, which means that after the sale of the crop there was a lot of waste (re-grading, trifles, cut potatoes). To put the waste into business, it was decided to have pigs. Further, milk was required to feed the piglets, and cows appeared on the farm. Well, there have always been horses: even Igor Zhabyak's parents constantly kept one or two horses.
Crop production
The farm grows cereals (wheat, barley, oats), fodder crops and potatoes.
As Maksim Zhabyak comments: “We start planting very early. In the Soviet years, farms of the Karaganda region were recommended to carry out the sowing campaign from 15 to 25 May. We, if weather conditions permit, try to close the moisture and sow grain already in early April. There are years when by May 1 we have already finished sowing and start planting potatoes. Sometimes the sowing of cereals and the planting of potatoes are parallel, the possibilities of the economy allow. Machinery works around the clock, machine operators work in shifts (12 hours shift). As a rule, about 30 people are involved in sowing and 20 in planting potatoes.
A GRIMME self-propelled harvester is used for harvesting potatoes. As Vasily Zhabyak notes, their farm was one of the first to acquire this combine in Kazakhstan.
Potatoes and forage crops are grown on irrigation. However, water is not spared for other crops either.
KH "Chance" is a member of the state program for the development of irrigation. Under the terms of this program, agricultural producers are reimbursed 50% of the costs of irrigation systems. “This is very profitable,” explains Igor Zhabyak, “especially if we consider that with the introduction of irrigation, the yield increases several times, and the economy becomes completely different.”
“Now we grow crops on irrigation, although at first we approached this idea very carefully,” he adds, “but the climate is becoming more and more unpredictable, there are years when there is no rain for months. And most importantly - on dry land we get a yield of 10-15 c / ha, and on irrigation - 70-100 c / ha. But now we really need wheat varieties that show the best results on irrigation. "
In general, the farm has been steadily increasing the irrigated area for the last two or three seasons, adding 400-500 hectares annually.
Livestock raising
Igor Zhabyak recalls: “Once upon a time we were lucky to meet the main specialist in horse breeding in Kazakhstan, a very passionate person - academician IN. Nechaev. Nechaev initiated our joint work to develop a new horse breed, which combined the advantages of Soviet heavy trucks and Kazakh toad. The cooperation lasted seven years and was successful, we achieved good results. Unfortunately, Igor Nikolayevich died, but now we want to honor his memory and register a new breed of horses called "Nechaevskaya".
Now the farm "Chance" has more than 1000 horses (about 700 animals are kept without grazing).
But the head of the farm still considers the pig-breeding direction to be more profitable. “With good care, a pig can farrow two or three times a year,” he says. “A horse only produces offspring once a year.” The farm now has about 4200 pigs, and from the point of view of Igor Zhabyak, this number is quite enough: “At the moment, we have everything under control, and this is the main thing. It is important for farmers to remember that the immensity cannot be grasped. "
The Chance farm does not forget about the development of dairy farming: the enterprise is building a dairy farm for cattle.
The company has big plans for the future in all areas, and we will be happy to tell the readers of the Potato System magazine about its new achievements.
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