On November 3, the head of Chuvashia, Oleg Nikolaev, visited the Komsomolsk region and held a meeting there with the heads of the leading potato-producing farms of the republic. The main topic was the discussion of the state of the potato industry in the region and the prospects for the development of this direction.
Oleg Nikolaev examined the modern laboratory of microclonal reproduction and the greenhouse of the agricultural firm "Slava Potato", where, using the latest technologies, seed material is grown in test tubes. Micropropagation has several advantages. The possibility of contamination of potatoes with infections is excluded, because the plants are grown on nutrient media under sterile conditions. It also provides the maximum number of healthy plants producing the largest number of tubers per bush. The laboratory's capacity is up to 100 thousand microplants per year. This year the first minitubers were received there.
“What we saw in the greenhouse today is the first laboratory harvest of seed tubers, which still have to go through several stages before being harvested for further use. This is great, it suggests that the industry is developing and moving forward, including using scientific achievements, "- said Oleg Nikolaev.
The head of the region also said that the republican government is developing additional measures to support enterprises engaged in the processing of agricultural products.
“Now it is important for us to grow products, process them here and receive products of a different quality, which are evaluated differently in the market and have a completely different added value. And in the future, we will direct support measures to precisely these areas. We have already allocated 120 million rubles for this in the draft budget, ”said Oleg Nikolaev.
The head of the region noted that the forms of support are being worked out together with the relevant ministries. And they will be directed specifically at the creation of new production sites for the processing of agricultural products.
To optimize costs, the Head of Chuvashia suggested that agricultural producers unite into cooperatives. “After all, equipment for washing potatoes, processing lines are not needed by every household. They are needed along one line to several enterprises, most likely on a cluster basis based on cooperation. This means that this object of cooperation can claim colossal support under federal programs - up to 70% in order to create these capacities, ”Oleg Nikolaev emphasized.
He noted that it is necessary to work with personnel as well. Thus, the republic has decided to reduce rural mortgages for certain categories of citizens to 0,1% per annum. The regional government is doing this so that people stay in rural areas.