In the fields of the country, potato harvesting has already been completed. What is the new harvest of the "second bread" we learn from the guest of the studio News "24 hours". November 13 is Vadim Makhanko, Director General of the Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Potato and Horticulture.
Very, very good level, this Belarus has never reached
Sergey Prokhorov, STV:
As you know, Belarus is a traditional leader in the production of potatoes per capita. Tell me, is the current crop just as good?
Vadim Makhanko, Director General of the Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Potato and Fruit Vegetable Production
He exceeded all expectations. Even though we have planted less potatoes than last year, but the gross harvest is excellent. And most importantly, we crossed the psychological threshold of 30 tons per hectare. This is a very, very good level; Belarus has never achieved this.
Sergey Prokhorov:
What makes such a result?
Vadim Makhanko:
First: there is such a process as production concentration, when there are fewer producers, and each producer who remains on the Belarusian potato market produces more. That is, today we already have four farms that plant 1000 hectares and more of potatoes. Previously, for Belarus this was an unattainable figure.
Sergey Prokhorov:
That is, our potato, we can say, has become better?
Vadim Makhanko:
Both better and larger.
Dumping is unacceptable for us, because in Europe there are very large subsidies per hectare
Sergey Prokhorov:
Tell me, which countries are competing with us in this area? And how do we fight competition?
Vadim Makhanko:
The fact is that they always fight with competition in two ways: either with a better product, or prohibitive.
Sergey Prokhorov:
Well, or lower prices?
Vadim Makhanko:
This is dumping. It is unacceptable for us, because in a number of European countries — let’s say, our neighbor Poland, they use very large subsidies for potato production there. We have a certain number of subsidies per hectare, but not comparable to Poland. Naturally, we must work to achieve lower costs and lower selling prices.
Sergey Prokhorov:
And what can you say about the export of Belarusian potatoes?
We do not reach export of a million tons, but we try to take it with low cost and high quality
Vadim Makhanko:
The nice thing is that having a million tons of exports to the Soviet Union, we slipped to a minimum in the mid-90s, but now, let's say, our rates are rising. From year to year, we are increasing the supply of both food and seed potatoes outside Belarus.
Since this year, Ukraine has been very actively buying our potatoes (Ukraine had extremely unfavorable conditions for potatoes this year). And a record amount: we delivered 300 thousand tons. Of course, we do not reach a million, but we hope that due to low cost and high quality we will be able to increase the supply of potatoes to more markets: Uzbekistan - yes, Georgia - yes, Kazakhstan - we hope.
The European Union can supply potatoes to us, we have no right to the European Union
Sergey Prokhorov:
You have named, in principle, our traditional partners for potato consumption in this case. Maybe new directions are being developed?
Vadim Makhanko:
If we talk about export, while the road to the European Union is closed to us, there are prohibitive measures. That is, the European Union can supply potatoes to us, we have no right to the European Union.
Sergey Prokhorov:
Is work being done in this direction?
Vadim Makhanko:
Of course. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are currently very active in lifting these prohibitions.
Global warming. About 1-1,3 degrees - this is plus 30 new diseases
Sergey Prokhorov:
There is a lot of talk about global warming. Is it possible that this process will somehow affect our conditions for growing and producing potatoes? And we, as it were, will catch up with them or even be ahead of the foreseeable future.
Vadim Makhanko:
This is a double edged sword. On the one hand, yes, we plant earlier and sometimes we can clean a little later. On the other hand, it would seem that such a thing - has the temperature in Belarus risen by about 30-1 degrees over the past 1,3 years? This is plus 30 new diseases that we did not have before. Some of the diseases are generally African, which came to us through Western Europe. That is, growing potatoes every year becomes more difficult. And keep in mind that potatoes are a temperate climate culture.
We work with GMOs, but at a special training ground
Sergey Prokhorov:
A fairly relevant topic, it is always heard - GMOs. How do you feel about the introduction of such technology in food products? Do you use it when developing new varieties of potatoes?
Vadim Makhanko:
I will say right away: we are working with GMOs. We work, but we have a special training ground in a remote place. He is fenced and monitored. That is, only experiments are conducted there. The results of experiments on our fields do not go to traditional breeding programs.
How do you think of names for potatoes?
Sergey Prokhorov:
In the summer, you presented the President a new variety of potatoes, then it was still without a name. Has a name already appeared?
Vadim Makhanko:
It's too early to talk about it. The process of creating a new variety can be compared with how a child goes to school: first grade, second, third and so on. And the name is given ... it can be compared with graduation and getting a certificate of maturity: this is a new sample, he proved that he is one of the best, passed all the tests, passed the tests, is stable, tasty and fruitful, well stored - and so on for 60 signs.
Sergey Prokhorov:
How do you think of names for potatoes?
Vadim Makhanko:
This is the same creative process as any artist, when he gives a name to his picture, or a composer, when he gives a name to a symphony or a song. Like that.
Sergey Prokhorov:
Here we look at the tuber - is it its appearance, size, color, taste?
Vadim Makhanko:
Probably, first of all, this is some kind of inner feeling. This is an association with something. And we traditionally try to make it clear even outside Belarus that it is a Belarusian potato variety.
Source: http://www.ctv.by/