On April 21, Syktyvkar hosted a meeting dedicated to potato growing in the republic. According to Denis Sharonov, Minister of Agriculture and Consumer Market of Komi, the department gathered all interested persons - manufacturers, science and specialists of the ministry - to find a solution to how the industry will develop in the near future.
- This industry was once well represented in the republic, but in recent years there has been a downward trend. We need to understand why this happened, draw conclusions, work on mistakes and restart this industry in a new way, ”he said.
According to Denis Sharonov, the republic has all favorable agro-climatic conditions for growing potatoes and outdoor vegetables, such as cabbage, beets, and carrots. However, in 2020, the area for potatoes decreased by 27% compared to 2016, and in agricultural organizations and farms the decrease was more than 36%.
The gross harvest of potatoes in 2020 amounted to 58,5 thousand tons. At the same time, organizations collected only 1,8 thousand tons, farmers - 1,6 thousand tons. The population dug up 55 thousand tons of potatoes. The yield was 144-172 centners per hectare.
Five agricultural organizations and 2020 farms were engaged in potato production in the republic in 41, and 29 of them have sown areas of two or less hectares, which indicates a pronounced small-scale production.
According to the accounting data, potato production, excluding subsidies, is unprofitable. The cost of producing one kilogram of potatoes was 10,8 rubles (although in some farms this figure was at the level of 5,7 rubles, while in others it exceeded 13 rubles).
There are also state support measures in the republic. For example, you can get subsidies for technical and technological re-equipment, the purchase of machinery and equipment, compensating up to 40% of costs (in 2010, 70% were compensated). There are also new areas - grants under the "Agrostartup" program and for the opening of family farms, the amount of support may exceed several million rubles.