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 Kazakhstan economy of Elim-Kyzyl Zhar LLP. The author of the text is Maxim Ivanov, commercial director of the enterprise.
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Our enterprise LLP "Elim-Kyzyl Zhar" was established in 2004 in the village of Arkhangelsk, North Kazakhstan region. At first it specialized only in the cultivation of grain crops: wheat, barley, oats. We tried potatoes for the first time in 2010, starting with 10 hectares. To date, the farm has allocated 120 hectares for potatoes. In general, over 16 years of work, we have seriously expanded our activities: we also grow vegetables (carrots, beets), cereals (wheat, oats, barley) and oilseeds (flax) crops; we breed cows of the Kazakh white-headed breed and horses of the Jebe breed.
But back to the potatoes. This year we are working with such varieties as Gala, Colomba, Rodrigo, Impala; they are more in line with our requirements.
When choosing a variety, we take into account its yield, commercial qualities: taste, color, shape (these are the most important parameters), ripening period, keeping quality, resistance to viruses. We buy seeds from elite seed farms, we try to invest in good seeds every year. We start buying seed potatoes in the fall, so there are no problems with them.
Most of the potatoes on the farm are grown without irrigation. The irrigated areas are small, they are reserved for early potatoes and vegetables. But, of course, we understand that it is necessary to develop this direction. Next year it is already planned to put into operation an artificial reservoir and irrigate 60 hectares with the subsequent expansion of the area.
We sell potatoes almost all year round: from mid-July to early June. We work mainly with chain stores in the North Kazakhstan region, and directly, we deliver products ourselves. If by the end of the year we have few products left, then we sell wholesale to the capital Nur-Sultan.
We supply unwashed potatoes. In our region there is still no demand for products that have passed the stage of pre-sale preparation. But in the future, I think the situation will change, and we will try to meet the expectations of our customers by this time.
We pay great attention to the organization of product storage. This year we are launching the third vegetable storehouse for 3000 tons.
I would also like to note that every year we try to renew our fleet of equipment. We use GRIMME machines for harvesting potatoes, we have 3 of them. Last year we purchased Belarusian-made warehouse equipment. We are also planning to purchase irrigation machines, new tractors, and a carrot harvester.
Summing up, I can say that potato and vegetable growing in our region are promising areas for business. The demand for products is growing, so our company plans to expand the area for potatoes, carrots, beets. We want to develop and will make every effort for this.