The Ministry of Agriculture of Udmurtia has begun to develop a concept for the development of potato and vegetable growing - these are the few areas of the Udmurt agricultural industry that, like the whole country, have recently lost ground and require close attention.
Large farms in Udmurtia, one after another, reduce the volume of potato production, the reason is the low purchase price, balancing on the brink of prime cost. And so it has been over the past years. So, according to Udmurtstat, in 2019 the sown area for potatoes in the republic decreased by 6% in comparison with the previous period, to 23 thousand hectares. The gross harvest amounted to 393 thousand tons - 4% less compared to 2018. At the same time, last year, despite the emergency mode, weather conditions favorably affected the yield of the "second bread" - 173 c / ha (114 c / ha in 2018). 115,8 thousand tons of vegetables in open and protected ground was collected - 95,4% to the level of 2018.
“Against the backdrop of the successes shown by livestock enterprises and milk processing factories, we must nevertheless admit that we still cannot call ourselves a region that completely provides itself with food of our own production. So, every year 80 thousand tons of vegetables are imported into the republic, it is obvious that here we have where to grow.
We have begun to work out a concept for the development of potato and vegetable growing, requests for the availability of potato storage facilities and technical resources for the cultivation of vegetables and potatoes have been sent to each rural municipal district - we will analyze the existing potential and determine the leading producers on a territorial basis, "commented the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Agriculture Farms and foodstuffs of the Udmurt Republic Olga Abramova.
There will be support in the sale of the grown crop - today the Ministry of Agriculture of Udmurtia has also begun organizing a unified system of social food in the republic. It should allow the maximum number of local agricultural producers to become the main suppliers of agricultural raw materials to social institutions. Directly, bypassing such intermediary links as resellers and wholesalers, to which farms are now selling vegetables and potatoes from the fields at a price of 5 rubles / kg, and they are ultimately supplied to social institutions for 15 rubles / kg. “I would like to leave the margin in the countryside,” concluded Olga Abramova.
There will be subsidies this year for potato and vegetable growers - in the first case, 7 thousand rubles will be allocated. per 1 ha of sown area, in the second - 13 thousand rubles / ha. The Ministry of Agriculture of the republic is completing the first stage of accepting documents for obtaining per hectare support this week. Prior to the start of sowing operations, it is planned to allocate 80% of the foreseen funds in advance. In 2020, 6,4 thousand hectares will be allocated for potatoes in Udmurtia and 487 hectares for open field vegetables.