The hot topics now include the coronavirus pandemic, food security, and the new agricultural season. How are the days in one of the major agricultural holdings of Moscow Region Razdolie LLC, portal AGRO XXI learned firsthand.
The company "Razdolye" was founded in 2010. One of the areas of activity is vegetable growing.
It is a full-cycle enterprise, it performs the whole range of works: from cultivation and storage to processing and sales of products. The company's agronomist, Roman Karpunin, answered questions from the AGRO XXI portal.
- There are rumors that restrictive measures by the authorities interfere with the supply of diesel fuel, pesticides and so on. Has your enterprise been affected by any quarantine and restrictive measures or are you working as usual? Do you have enough agricultural materials for a successful sowing?
- Our production works as usual. Shipments of products to consumers are in full swing. Of course, due to the fact that people from all over the country come for loading, we have introduced additional measures to disinfect cars, premises and equipment. Plus, the weather conditions in winter allowed us to go to the fields to prepare the soil 15 days earlier than usual. Therefore, machine operators, mechanics employed in the fields, also work as usual. At the moment, the hottest time is before the sowing season, so there is no way to sit at home.
In addition, in connection with the start of agricultural work, diesel fuel consumption has increased significantly, but we have no problems with supplies. In addition, we try to import fuel with a supply of at least a month.
- When did you buy fertilizers and plant protection products - in advance or before the season? Were there any delays in deliveries or not?
- But with fertilizers and plant protection products, things are a little different. There is no shortage of them on the market, but on the other hand, producers are significantly and, one might say, daily raise the selling prices for products. Our production facilities did not allow us to store the entire planned volume of fertilizers, so the purchase of materials is in full swing at the moment. We have been working with trusted suppliers for a long time, who, even in such a difficult time, do their work efficiently and on time.
- The coronavirus has highlighted the importance of domestic production of staple food crops. Do you plan to expand the area under potatoes this season and what volumes do you intend to reach?
- Yes, our farm plans to increase the area under potatoes up to 300 hectares and we plan to receive about 12 tons of products. In 000, 2019 hectares of land were occupied.
- And hence the next question - is there a shortage of workers, such a problem is also voiced. How many people are employed on the farm and whether they intend to attract additional labor. How demanding is the approach to hiring employees - is a permanent team?
- Definitely, in our production there are periods of peak load, when the packing and shipment of vegetables is carried out practically around the clock. At such moments, there are really not enough people in working professions employed in warehouses. Therefore, to ensure the smooth operation of the enterprise, we attract workers from other areas. For example, this winter 8 people from Astrakhan worked for us. But, I will note that the lack of workers is not a consequence of the development of coronavirus, but the result of the fact that people living in villages are forced to look for work in big cities. With the development of our economy, we are able to offer the local population a stable job with a competitive salary. Therefore, we already have a permanent work collective. When hiring personnel, every employer wants to get a visible result from an employee, and we also have people who really work, and there are those who may not go to work without a good reason. We, of course, do not keep such workers in our production. At the moment 26 people are constantly working on the farm.
- What lesson do you think the coronavirus has taught the agro-industrial sector?
- In fact, I do not know of a single farm that would stop its activities due to this pandemic. But all the panic that arose around the decline in oil prices, a sharp jump in the exchange rate, the spread of the coronavirus across the land led to the fact that producers of products needed by agricultural enterprises began to sharply increase selling prices. And the first to do this were Russian companies. Therefore, the main conclusion that can be drawn in such a situation is planning and purchasing the necessary means of production in advance.
- Now to the questions of readers who, in addition to the coronavirus, continue to be concerned about the quality of imported products. Many complain about the tasteless imported potatoes from supermarkets. What varieties of potatoes will the farm plant this season and where to sell?
- In 2020, we will present three varieties in our assortment: Gala, Red Scarlett, Queen Anna.
The geography of deliveries of our products is quite wide. The main consumers are Moscow and the Moscow region. Also, large volumes were sent to other regions: Leningrad, Tula, Lipetsk, Yaroslavl regions and others. There were deliveries of products even to Vladivostok. In addition to wholesale customers, we also work with chain stores. For example, our products are presented in stores VkusVill, Myasnov and others. We also plan to start deliveries to the largest regional networks of the country.
- Another question from the same series: “Someday the cultivation of garlic is planned, I don’t like Chinese, it’s not worth the money,” the readers write.
- There are definitely such plans. I can even say more, we have the equipment for growing these products. But since winter garlic grows better in our zone, this year we will properly prepare the area and plant garlic in winter. Accordingly, we plan to get the harvest only next year.
- Since we're talking about sowing. Do you think a warm winter poses a phytosanitary threat to potatoes, or are you making some interesting agronomic solutions to reduce pest pressure?
- Of course, the warm winter contributed to better wintering conditions for potato pests, but I would not argue that the number of individuals in the soil will be much higher than in normal years. Still, in living nature, every organism has an instinct for self-preservation, and everyone is to some extent able to adapt to certain changes in their usual climate. As for pest control, unfortunately, at the moment, the main effective control measure can be considered to be the pickling of tubers when planting with chemical plant protection agents.
- When will the first potatoes of the new harvest from your company go to the counter?
“There is no point in hoping for an early harvest in our zone. Despite the absence of snow cover and rather early entry of equipment into the fields, no one canceled the possibility of frosts in May. And if at this time there are already potato shoots, the crop will be ruined. Therefore, we will start planting, as usual, in early May, and we plan to harvest potatoes in mid-August. The bulk of the products will go for storage. Shipments will begin in late September - early October.
- Thanks for the conversation, Roman! We wish you and your company a great and productive season!