Problem solving starts with understanding how things really are.
Journal "Potato system" holds this interviewto form a real picture of what is happening in the industry: at what level are Russian potato farms today, what difficulties do they face.
We hope that you will support our initiative.
Today we publish the first results of the survey.
For all our respondents (answered questions from 18 to 28 October 2022), the potato is not the only crop in production, but it occupies significant areas: from 150 to 330 hectares.
All enterprises participating in the survey are located in central Russia (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod regions), while one farm grows potatoes on rainfed soil (potato yield: 28 t/ha), the rest use the possibilities of artificial irrigation (potato yield: from 32 to 60 t/ha). ha).
All enterprises are engaged in the cultivation of seed potatoes and fully provide themselves with seed material.
Everyone observes a crop rotation (4-5-field), but only one farm grows open ground vegetables (cabbage) in addition to potatoes.
All enterprises carry out planting of potatoes in May (start of work: from 5 to 15.05), on average, these works take from 10 days (150 ha) to 15-20 days (320-330 ha), but in difficult weather conditions this period can be significantly increase (according to the agricultural producer, up to 45 days).
In the list of the main tuber diseases that are most often encountered on the farm, respondents distinguish: scab (common, net, tuberculate, powdery, silvery), rhizoctoniosis, bacterial infections (ring, brown rot), alternariosis.
The list of the most common vegetation diseases includes alternariosis and bacteriosis.
The main weeds (each farm has its own leader in this hit parade): white gauze, field bindweed, bindweed mountaineer.
It should be noted that agricultural producers include both imported and domestic preparations in the potato protection system. Thus, the majority of participants in our survey, when choosing disinfectants, gave priority to foreign-made products (Uniform, Celeste Top, Vibrance Top), but in the case of herbicides, they relied on Russian plant protection products (Prometrin, Lazurit Ultra, Romul, Escudo).
All survey participants use the chemical method of leaf desiccation (including with the help of the domestic drug Sukhovey).
The start of harvesting in the households of the respondents naturally falls on the end of August - the beginning of September (from August 22 to September 12). In general, harvesting work lasts from 20 to 40 days (and weather conditions are not so much the area under crops as decisive in this matter).
All interviewed farms have their own storage facilities (with a capacity of 11000 to 14000 tons), one of the enterprises confirmed that it stores products in bulk, using an inhibitor, while the potato retains commercial quality until early May.
The editors would like to thank all participants of the global potato survey!