Potatoes today not only hold a leading position in the title of "second bread", but also, according to the director of the All-Russian Potato Research Institute named after A.G. Lorch Evgeny Simakova, in terms of consumption in Russia, came out in third place.
Proof of this is the holding in the Chuvash Republic for the third consecutive year of an interregional industry exhibition, where the main character is His Majesty the potatoes. The editorial office of the Potato System magazine went there in mid-February. Moreover, the organizers of the exhibition promised: there will be something to see!
And, indeed, they did not deceive. At the exhibition, 74 exhibitors from 19 regions of Russia, Germany, and the USA opened their expositions.
Such enterprises and organizations as KRONEN, CJSC Firm Avgust, LLC AGROPAK, LLC TFK Avtotekhimport, Reinke Manufacturing Company, CJSC Kolnag, LLC Agrofirma Slava Potato, LLC Solana-Agro demonstrated their products Service, Bayer CJSC, MAST Group of Companies, KRiMM Agrofirm LLC, Agrotrade Company LLC and many others.
A distinctive feature of this exhibition from previous ones is the presence of vegetables. This year, the organizers decided to expand the traditional framework, which was already clear from the name “Potatoes. Vegetables - 2011 ". The MTV Center in Cheboksary was chosen as the location, where for two days potato growers and gardeners-lovers of various regions “flocked” in a dense stream: some just look, and some conclude a profitable deal, stock up on seed material for the coming season.
… And now the elevator stops on the fifth floor: the World of potatoes and vegetables appears before our eyes. It is Mir, since the areas occupied by the exhibition are truly huge - two spacious floors of the MTV Center, where you could find everything: from samples of agricultural machinery, vegetable crops cultivated in our country, containers for packaging, fertilizers - to various culinary dishes, "First violin" performed by maestro Potato.
In addition to the exhibition, the program of the interregional forum “Potatoes. Vegetables - 2011 "also included a purely business part - a scientific and practical conference" Modern trends and prospects for innovative development of potato growing ", round tables, seminars, master classes of suppliers of protection products, mineral fertilizers, machinery and technological equipment, in particular, the system drip irrigation, which, opening the forum, was mentioned by the President of Chuvashia Mikhail Ignatiev: “A difficult year for agriculture in 2011 directs us to adjust production and financial plans and focuses on the introduction of new technologies for irrigation of fields. Using drip irrigation and energy-saving technologies, we must get up to 400 centners per hectare. "
The first day of the exhibition turned out to be quite “hot”, a fair amount of visitors gathered at the MTV Center, among whom one could recognize the President of Chuvashia, who, after opening speech, also decided to examine the presented expositions. He went up to our stand, took an interest in the magazine and wished all readers of his favorite edition of “a rich harvest this year”. I am pleased to convey to you, dear readers, this wish!
An interesting fact is that for the first time at the exhibition there were presented 125 foreign and domestic varieties of potatoes, adapted to Russian conditions. But still, the main attention was paid to 86 varieties of Russian selection, presented by leading scientific institutions and basic farms.
After enjoying the gifts of selection, visitors to the exhibition were quick to find out: “Where can I get this seed?” The organizers thought it over. Especially for this event, heated pavilions were rebuilt near the Center where, according to rumors that blazed like lightning around the exhibition, it was possible to cheaply buy seed at an average price of 34 rubles per kilogram (cheaper than even ordinary potato in our supermarkets!). It is not surprising that in these pavilions “there was no place for an apple to fall” from the influx of people wishing to purchase seed potatoes for the coming season. The most popular grades are Nevsky, Luck, Rosara, Impala, Red Scarlett. In total, 181,2 tons of potatoes, 9,6 tons of vegetables and a huge amount of seeds were sold during the exhibition days.
Another surprise for visitors was the presentation of the first and specially published catalog for this exhibition, “Russian Potato Varieties” of the Agro-Innovation PMC of the Chuvash Republic with the participation of specialists from the All-Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Chemistry. A. G. Lorch, who included more than 150 Russian potato varieties that have an advantage over foreign counterparts.
The opportunity to evaluate the consumer properties of one or another potato variety was already at the exhibition, thanks to the organized tasting of more than 70 excellent potato and vegetable dishes from the chefs of the Chuvashpotrebsoyuz. The variety of dishes presented by the chefs literally scattered the eyes of the visitors. That there are only one name - "It's good in the village in summer", "Princess-frog", "Hedgehog in the meadow", "Snake" ...
Summing up, we can say that the exhibition was a success, as evidenced not only by the enthusiastic reviews of visitors, but also by the figures - according to the Ministry of Agriculture of Chuvashia, on the days of the III Interregional Industry Exhibition, protocols of intent were signed, preliminary contracts totaling more than 360 million rubles. rubles. Thus, one can only hope that next year the exhibition will be held with the same success. And, dear readers, I would like to say: "See you next year in Cheboksary!"