The VI Interregional Exhibition "Potato-2014", traditionally organized at the very end of winter in Cheboksary, passed like a holiday: noisy, crowded, cheerful, with songs, contests and a plentiful culinary feast. For two days, the Nikolaevsky shopping center, which has been serving as a platform for meetings of experts and industry lovers for several years, has turned into a real potato kingdom ...
At the entrance, guests were greeted by an armada of agricultural machinery, on the ground floor, high-quality seed material was sold to retail buyers, on the second floor agricultural enterprises, farmers and research institutes presented the results of their work, manufacturers and suppliers of technical and chemical products for growing, care, and harvesting showed the best samples and new products. and potato processing.
An important part of the event was a rich business program. During the exhibition, the scientific and practical conference "Modern Potato Industry: State and Development Prospects" was held, the speakers of which raised the most important questions for potato growers: about problems and prospects of seed production in
Russia, new international and domestic standards, innovative technologies for growing, harvesting and processing the "second bread". The most discussed topics were brought up at round tables, which allowed us to divide the audience into interest groups and organize discussions with a live exchange of views and experiences.
The guests of the exhibition were in a good mood by tasting potato varieties. At the tables, both experts who professionally noted the peculiarities of taste, the richness and shade of each sample, and lovers of the product, who cautiously tasted the rich purple tubers ("Well, it just grows like this? Like ink dyed ... Afraid to eat!") solved the problem of the lack of salt (the organizers deliberately refused to use it for the "purity of the experiment"), adding sauerkraut to the potatoes from the stand of farmer Vasily Semenov.
The “adult” exhibition was successfully supplemented by the exposition of children's works “My Favorite Potato”, which impressed not only with artistic talents, but also with a flight of imagination, unconventional thinking and sincere feelings for the product (yes, and not always for chips).
In general, from the point of view of our editors, the exhibition was a success, and everyone who found time to visit it - a scientist, practitioner or owner of a private farm - has acquired here a lot of useful and useful things. For more detailed and detailed results of the event, we asked the organizers to sum up.
Sergey Pavlov,
Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Chuvash Republic, Minister of Agriculture of the Chuvash Republic
— Sergey Vladimirovich, for the sixth year Cheboksary has become the potato capital of Russia. How significant is this for the Chuvash Republic?
- Potato production is of great importance to us. This crop is the main one for many farms of the republic: due to the natural and climatic characteristics of the region, potato production is one of the most profitable agricultural areas. This is really the second bread for us. And, of course, it is pleasant and honorable that an exhibition dedicated to potatoes is being held in our land, and it can already be called traditional.
- You went through the exhibition, talked with many farmers. With what mood are the Chuvash potato growers preparing for spring?
- Unfortunately, recently difficult weather conditions did not allow us to achieve decent results, although the yield remained higher than the average in Russia (the indicator of Chuvashia in 2013 was 171,2 c / ha, in the whole country - 144,6 c / ha). The year was difficult, part of the crop was lost during the harvest. But there is no panic, the peasants are determined to work, they are actively engaged in updating varieties, preparing equipment.
— Is technology enough?
- According to our data, in 2013 alone, agricultural organizations and peasant farms purchased 646 agricultural machines in the amount of 898,7 million rubles; five complexes for the cultivation of potatoes in the amount of 11 million rubles; reclamation equipment for a total amount of more than 100 million rubles. Part of the costs was covered by the federal budget (subsidies in the amount of 19,5 million rubles), additional assistance to farms was provided by the Government of the Chuvash Republic (24,1 million rubles).
- Are you provided with seeds?
- In Chuvashia, 12 farms grow potato planting material of the highest reproduction. The largest specialized agricultural enterprises annually produce more than 5,5 thousand tons of the elite.
- That is, there are prerequisites for a good result.
And there are buyers for a large volume of potatoes? In your opinion, the popularity of potatoes among ordinary consumers does not fall?
- Now there is so much talk about rational nutrition ... The culture of consumption is really changing, organic vegetables are becoming more in demand. So our potatoes are just becoming more relevant.
- What would you like to wish to all potato growers in our country?
- Favorable weather conditions for the whole season, the ability to quickly respond to all changes, an excellent harvest, stable sales and a noticeable economic effect!
Nikolay Vasiliev,
Director of the PMC of the Chuvash Republic
Agro-Innovation
AT THE EXHIBITION "POTATO - 2014":
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- Nikolai Ivanovich, what was interesting about the interregional exhibition "Potato-2014"? What were its features?
- The potato exhibition in the capital of Chuvashia was held for the sixth time. 74 exhibitors from 18 regions of Russia, near and far abroad presented their achievements there.
For us, this high result is a clear confirmation that the site in Cheboksary is well established and fulfills its main task: it helps to exchange views and discuss problems for everyone who works in the potato field.
Of course, we make every effort to ensure that the exhibition remains interesting to regular exhibitors and attracts new ones. Every year we update the topics covered during the conference and round tables, taking into account the requests of both representatives of farms and manufacturers of agricultural machinery, plant protection products.
- This year you changed the format of the conference round tables ...
- Yes, they are now more practitioner-oriented.
During each round table, there were about three to five short reports on relevant topics around which a general discussion was built. The channel was set by experienced moderators, for the role of which we invited the most respected experts.
- A practical bias did not mean a departure from science?
- Of course not. Rather, it is the result of a natural process of differentiation between science and practice. We focused on the application side in order to attract the attention of more people directly working on the ground to the conference.
And we will definitely continue to work in this direction. Next year, we plan to include in the materials for participants special booklets on selected areas of potato growing with useful tips and tricks.
- As a professional, did you note for yourself some new promising topics among the speakers 'speeches, new achievements presented at the participants' stands?
- All conference reports were worthy of the audience's attention. For myself, I highlighted topics related to clean zones for seed growing (the experience of farmers in the Vologda region; FAT-Agro from Ossetia). This is the most important direction in the production of seed potatoes, without the development of which we will not be able to compete in the world market.
Also attracted by the presentation of a company representative from the United States on the practice of virus-free seed production - an unusual and interesting technology.
But in general, it is worth emphasizing that the exhibition presented a wide range of proposals for the effective cultivation and processing of potatoes by both domestic and foreign companies. Each visitor could find everything that he needed.
— One of the highlights of the exhibition was the tasting of potatoes. Was it an advertisement of those varieties that could be bought on the ground floor of the pavilion?
- No, the potatoes sold out with a bang and without additional promotion.
We simply invited guests and exhibitors to try different types of potatoes, compare the taste of domestic and foreign selection products and vote for the one they liked most. In order for the choice to be as independent as possible, the varieties were not signed, simply indicated with colored stickers.
And I must say that according to the results of the popular vote, Russian potatoes turned out to have no less fans than imported ones.
“Many visitors noted that a record number of equipment was presented at the exhibition.
- Yes, according to our calculations, it is twice as much as usual. To accommodate all the cars, additional areas had to be rented.
- Nikolay Ivanovich, what would you like to wish to the permanent participants of the exhibition and to everyone who would like to enter this circle?
- I invite regular participants to express their ideas for improving the exhibition, expanding the business program. We are always open to dialogue and ready to change. The coordinates are easy to find on the Agro-Innovation website :(www.agro-in.cap.ru).
And to everyone who is associated with the potato industry, but has not yet visited our exhibition, I can wish not to "stew in their own juice", to meet more actively with representatives of other regions, share problems and ways to solve them, develop new strategies. And, of course, to come to Cheboksary next February. I am sure that together we will achieve success faster!