One of the largest projects in the country in the field of potato seed production is being implemented by Baltiyskiye Semyon LLC.
The company annually supplies about 10 tons of high-quality seeds to other regions of Russia. This is 5% of the total Russian production of potato seeds.
These days the company is running a shipping campaign: seed potatoes of various varieties and classes are sorted, calibrated, packed and shipped for shipment outside the region. The geography of deliveries is wide and includes farmers in Moscow, Leningrad, Bryansk, Tula, Astrakhan, Rostov, Novosibirsk regions and Altai.
“Growing seed potatoes is hard work. High-quality soil preparation, pre-planting treatment of tubers, strict observance of the distances between tubers during planting at the optimum time is necessary. After planting, potatoes require careful care. The implementation of the technology is strictly controlled at all stages,” said General Director Yulia Isakova. — The uniqueness of our company is primarily due to its location. All fields are located below sea level, these are the polder lands of the Slavsky district, the reclamation network of which allows for passive soil moistening - this preserves the crop in dry years. In addition, due to the proximity to the sea coast, the spread of aphids, which carry viruses, is prevented. All these factors make it possible to achieve high quality seed material produced in the Kaliningrad region.”
According to Yulia Isakova, today the issue of import substitution in potato seed production has been resolved in Russia.
“Previously, almost all potato seed material was imported from Europe. At the moment, our domestic farmers have learned how to grow high-quality potato seeds, and several, about ten to fifteen, large seed farms have been created in the Russian Federation. We are one of the largest and confidently enter the top three leaders in the production of seed potatoes. Imports of elite seed material from abroad have been significantly reduced, as a sufficient production base has been formed for the entire range of high-quality seed categories in Russia.”
It should be noted that the Baltic Seeds company specializes in growing potato varieties for making chips and french fries. This year it is also planned to plant table potatoes.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kaliningrad Region, the region's need for seed potatoes is fully met.
The region is developing the production of both seed and marketable potatoes. Farms of all categories harvested 2021 tons of potatoes in 113.