The year 2019 ending, in general, was generous to Russian potato growers: the harvest was rich. However, in each individual economy of a large country, the season and its results are evaluated in their own way.
Now we are growing Krona, it is a good variety, fruitful and tasty. But in the current conditions we need another one - with a stronger peel that is resistant to mechanical damage.
Egor Feshchenko, chief agronomist of Sibirskie Prostory LLC, Novosibirsk region.
120 ha under potatoes
- The harvesting of potatoes was completed on September 15th. This season in our region was not the most favorable in terms of weather conditions: May and June were very dry, and in July and August it was flooded with rains. As a result, they collected 30% less than last year.
The average yield is 220 kg / ha for table potatoes (for several years we have been growing two varieties: Zekura and Rosara). We started selling on August 15, at that moment prices in the region were at the level of 12 rubles / kg, now we are selling at 8-8,5 rubles / kg. Last year at the same time, prices were even lower.
We are not planning any major changes for the next season, we will not introduce chip varieties into the line (technologically this is a completely different level). Of course, plans to open a PepsiCo plant among potato growers are being actively discussed, many want to try it. But really, I think, now only two or three farms are able to cope with this task.
Valery Koltsov, Head of FE GKFH Valery Koltsov, Republic of Mari El
40 ha under potatoes
- The potatoes have been removed, there is still some cabbage left in the fields (as of October 31, - ed.). Happy with the harvest.
Of course, there were weather difficulties in the summer: first heat, then rains, but ideally not a single season passes. This year, the plantings did not suffer from diseases, the problems in our farm were only on one field where the potatoes were planted after cereals that underwent strong herbicidal treatments last year. It affected the potato not in the best way.
But overall, we got excellent results, aside from pricing. In early autumn, resellers offered us to sell potatoes at 5 rubles / kg, now prices have slightly increased - up to 6-7 rubles / kg. And this situation is not the first year, I want to deal with potatoes less and less. I think that next season we will need to halve the area for this crop, abandon sparing manual harvesting (use only a combine harvester) and change the variety.
Anton Sevastyanenko, General Director of Sovkhoz Explorer;
Kolomensky Seeds LLC, Moscow Region
260 ha under potatoes
- The season for us ends at the level of 2018. It ran relatively smoothly, although there were moments in August when we were seriously afraid that the fields would be flooded. Considering such weather disasters, I think everyone in our region had to make additional efforts in the fight against late blight and side infections.
This year, our gross harvest is lower than last year, although this is largely due to the fact that the Sovkhoz Provodnik enterprise, previously engaged in mainly growing table potatoes, is changing its profile and will specialize in seed production: including propagating super category material -superelite produced by Kolomenskie Seeds.
Now we are engaged in the selection of varieties with which we will work in the new season. Our range traditionally includes the achievements of both domestic selection and foreign. So far, these are only table varieties. We also think about varieties for processing (for example, for the production of fries), but it is more difficult to grow such seed potatoes, the amount of collection is less, and the price of the product is higher. With the current development of the processing sector in Russia, this is not the most profitable area of work.
We sell table potatoes: large - 12 rubles / kg, medium - 9-10 rubles / kg. But we cooperate with regular buyers who are interested in purchasing a product of our quality. We do not supply potatoes for washing at the moment: the prices for such a product, in our opinion, are too low.
Valery Strelnikov, Head of the IP Strelnikov V.I., Tyumen region
80 ha under potatoes
- The year was ordinary, without any problems with the weather. More potatoes were harvested than last season, but the difference is not too significant. Productivity - 130 kg / ha. On the other hand, the records were not planned: they planted this year without fertilizers, there was not enough money for them. Last year, potatoes were bought in our region at 5-6 rubles / kg. We tried to wait for a good price, as a result, part of the harvest in the spring had to be disposed of. This year, prices have not increased by a penny, and the demand for potatoes is very low.
We have been growing Rosar for several years. Next year we will also plant Gala and Red Scarlett, the seeds have already been purchased. Perhaps we will add some early variety to the line while we think about it.
Vasily Gorbachev, executive director and chief agronomist of OOO Krasny Oktyabr, Bryansk region.
1000 ha under potatoes
- I am very dissatisfied with this season and the harvest. There was a drought all summer, in June there was only one rain, and this, of course, affected all the varieties that we grew.
Less tubers were tied, some of them could not gain mass: during the harvest, a larger percentage of potatoes that did not meet the standard was noted. Gala proved to be more or less, but still this is not the result we were counting on. We also did not wait for the rains to be harvested, therefore, as a result, we received a significant number of tubers with mechanical damage. Given the requirements that retail chains make, working now is very difficult.
It’s also difficult to say something good about prices in the region: on average, from 6 to 9 rubles / kg, depending on the quality of the lot.
The main conclusions that our economy made at the end of the season: we need to put watering! We have been thinking about this for a long time and, apparently, the time has come.