Potato cultivation is traditionally practiced in almost every municipal district of Dagestan. This year, it is planned to plant potatoes on an area of 20,4 thousand hectares in the republic. More than 40% of this area falls on Levashinsky (3162 ha), Akushinsky (2350 ha), Khasavyurtovsky (1450 ha) and Buynaksky (1285 ha) districts. More than 95% of potato plantings are located in personal subsidiary farms of the republic.
This year, Khasavyurt potato growers started planting potatoes already in February, as favorable weather conditions created such an opportunity. On Monday, February 28, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Dagestan Sharip Sharipov visited the Khasavyurt region. Accompanied by the head of the district agricultural department Idris Zagalov and his deputies, he studied the progress of spring field work in the village of Kokrek.
The peasant farm of Gasan Magomedov is one of the leading in the Republic of Dagestan, the most advanced agricultural technologies are used here, high-yielding varieties of potatoes are used. The farmer has been growing tubers for over 30 years. He often travels around the country, studying new varieties and adopting best practices from the best domestic potato growers. He brings the best agricultural practices to the Dagestan land, willingly shares advanced knowledge with other republican producers.
“This year I intend to plant potatoes on an area of 50 hectares, of which 30 hectares are already covered with tubers. For the first time in my many years of practice, I plant potatoes in February, as the month turned out to be very warm. I expect to get an ultra-early harvest, which is traditionally in high demand. I hope to get at least 400 centners of crops from a hectare of plantings,” said the head of the farm.
Moreover, within the framework of the task set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic, he sowed carrots on an area of 12 hectares. I intend to plant onions on an area of 16 hectares, of which I have already sown 8 hectares. Thus, in general, 80 hectares of arable land are allocated for the cultivation of potatoes and vegetables in this peasant farm. The necessary loop of the corresponding special machines is available. Irrigation is carried out with the help of drum-type sprinkling machines.
According to Sharip Sharipov, in 2021, as part of the task set by the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic did a lot of work with the farms of the region, aimed at expanding the planting of potatoes and vegetable crops in open ground.
“We expect to increase the planting of potatoes in the commodity sector (peasant farms and agricultural organizations) by at least 20%. To stimulate, we use state support tools. In particular, they intend to increase the size of the so-called "unrelated" support. In addition, within the framework of the federal project this year, new forms of state support are provided for producers involved in the cultivation of open ground vegetables and potatoes,” the First Deputy Minister noted.
He also recalled that last year more than half a million tons of potatoes were imported to the Russian Federation from other countries. This means that there is a free niche that Dagestan manufacturers can occupy in the domestic market, and accordingly, it is necessary to carry out the necessary work in this direction.
“There is a demand for potatoes. The republic has good potential in this direction. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Dagestan has done a lot of preparatory work for the spring campaign. Today, in many regions of Dagestan, spring field work is actively underway, spring sowing is being carried out. We see that already in February, Dagestan potato growers took to the fields. We expect to increase the supply of high-quality potatoes to the markets of our country's cities,” Sharip Sharipov said at the end of his comment.