Novgorod agrarians began preparations for the season of field work. They need to conclude contracts for the purchase of mineral fertilizers, fuels and lubricants, the supply of seeds, and repair of equipment.
- We need to prepare for the fact that, taking into account the weather conditions, sowing will begin two to three weeks earlier. It is necessary to speed up the solution of problematic issues. We are ready to provide the necessary assistance ", - said the Minister of Agriculture of the Novgorod Region Elena Pokrovskaya at a regular meeting of the operational headquarters for the spring field work, which took place in the videoconference mode
The meeting was attended by employees of the ministry, heads of governing bodies of the agro-industrial complex of districts and agricultural producers.
The ministry began paying per hectare support: this year it is planned to allocate 60 million rubles from the budget to support incomes in crop production. All decisions on subsidy payments are made promptly. Farmers also take loans. According to banking institutions, 740 entrepreneurs submitted applications for a total of 14 million rubles, 10 of them were farmers.
During the meeting, it was noted that 3,5 pieces of equipment were involved in preparing for the spring field work. The farmers purchased 313 tons of fertilizers with the planned figure of 4 tons. It is planned that by the start of field work, mineral fertilizers will be acquired in full.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the region, spring sowing farmers expect to spend on an area of more than 33 thousand hectares - this is 107% compared to last year. The cultivated area of grain and leguminous crops will be increased by 11%. Potatoes and vegetables will also be planted more - 3,9 thousand ha and 1,8 thousand ha. Sown areas of long flax will make 1,44 thousand ha (107%) this year, spring rape - 1 thousand ha (114%) and forage crops –15,4 thousand ha (111%).
Exit to the field depends on the weather. Some farmers and agricultural organizations are already taking their first steps in cultivating the land, applying organic fertilizers to the soil on potato fields, and also are feeding winter crops.