Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Territory Yuri Burlachko held a weekly meeting, where the deputies discussed the effectiveness of involving agricultural land in circulation and the further development of the reclamation complex of the Kuban.
Mikhail Timofeev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Processing Industry of the Krasnodar Territory, told the parliamentarians about the work done in this direction.
He noted that the total area of irrigated land in the subject is over 386 hectares. The reclamation fund occupies about 234 thousand hectares. Up to 120 thousand hectares are sown with rice. Every year, the region produces about 900 thousand tons of important agricultural crops, which is 70 percent of its total gross production in the country.
The discussion at the planning meeting also touched upon the implementation of regional projects. According to one of them - "Export of agricultural products" - and hydro-reclamation measures, more than 2017 thousand hectares of irrigated land were put into operation in the period from 2021 to 34. They grow corn, sunflower, soybeans, peas, beans, potatoes, onions, fruit crops. The production of agricultural products in such areas makes it possible to obtain guaranteed crops with an increase in productivity of 90 percent.
Nevertheless, as noted at the meeting, a number of acute issues related to land reclamation remain. Including in the rice industry. The Deputy Minister drew attention to the state of pumping stations that provide water to the fields. In most cases, the used equipment needs to be replaced.
Chairman of the Agrarian Committee of the Legislative Assembly Sergei Orlenko focused the attention of those present on the fact that the involvement of agricultural land in circulation is one of the goals of the Strategy for the Development of Agro-Industrial and Fisheries Complexes until 2030.
The deputies dwelled in detail on the preservation of forest belts in the region - the main protective reclamation plantings. Now they require more care, since many forest plantations are already more than 30 or even 40 years old.
Commenting on the situation, the chairman of the regional parliament emphasized that the preservation of forest belts is directly related to the fertility of the land. After all, it is forest plantations that protect them from erosion and prevent their depletion.
“We are constantly working in this direction. To maintain a sufficient level of humus in soils, the sixth convocation of the Legislative Assembly adopted a specialized law, which is being successfully implemented today. We live in a zone of unsustainable agriculture, so we need uniform strict rules for the maintenance of forest belts, which will be strictly implemented,” Yuriy Burlachko outlined his position.
As a result of the work, a resolution was adopted. The regional Ministry of Agriculture is recommended to put into operation at least 2023 hectares of reclaimed land annually in the period 2024-4. Together with the Ministry of Finance, the main agrarian department of Kuban will have to plan funds in the regional budget for the next year and for the planning period of 2024-2025 to reimburse part of the costs of agricultural producers for land reclamation measures, including liming acidic soils on arable land.