Andrey Knorr, Deputy Governor for Agro-Industrial Policy and Environmental Management, presented the results of the agricultural season at the operational meeting of the Governor of the Tomsk Region Vladimir Mazur.
Andrei Knorr informed that this year the harvesting campaign in the Tomsk region started on August 1 with the harvesting of winter crops, however, the mass ripening of spring crops began only in mid-September - two weeks later than usual. At the end of the summer, heavy rainfall significantly slowed down the pace of harvesting, and the first snow (up to 28 cm) that fell on September 10 stopped work in the fields. The farms of the Tomsk region did not have time to harvest almost 6 thousand hectares of grain and 1,5 thousand hectares of industrial crops.
However, despite agrotechnological failures related to weather conditions, Tomsk farmers set a new record for gross grain harvest, threshing 504,8 thousand tons.
“According to forecast estimates, the grain yield in granary weight will be the highest over the past 100 years - 26,2 centners per hectare,” Andrey Knorr informed.
The farmers managed to complete the harvest with minor losses thanks to a systematic increase in the level of technical equipment. This year alone, the farms purchased more than 300 units of agricultural equipment - tractors, combines, seeding complexes worth over 1,5 billion rubles.
Based on the results of the harvesting campaign, the leading positions were also maintained by Tomsk vegetable and potato farms. Among the Siberian regions, the Tomsk region occupies the second position in terms of vegetable productivity.
This year, Tomsk farms increased the gross harvest of potatoes by 2 thousand tons compared to last year, vegetables - by 1,2 thousand tons due to increased yields and increased areas.
Summing up the results of the agricultural season, Andrey Knorr outlined a number of risks for further increasing agricultural production. One of the main threats is the increase in costs due to the decrease in purchase prices for grain and industrial crops and a significant increase in prices for machinery, seeds, fertilizers and plant protection products.
“We must not lose the gained momentum in the development of the industry, despite all the threats. I look forward to your suggestions on how to minimize the risks in the agro-industrial complex,” Vladimir Mazur instructed Andrey Knorr. – Perhaps one of the solutions will be integration with Siberian neighbors. For example, with regard to fertilizers, the Kemerovo Azot is nearby, let's interact.”