On February 19, a board meeting was held at the Ministry of Agriculture of the Penza Region to discuss the development of potato growing in the region.
This issue has acquired particular relevance for the Penza region, since in recent years there has been a decrease in production of this crop. Recall that in 2020, the region harvested 293,4 thousand tons of potatoes.
The main volume of potatoes in the region is currently produced in private and private farms. In order to interest large enterprises in this crop, at the meeting it was decided to work out the issues of allocating funds from the regional budget to reimburse the costs of agricultural producers for the purchase of seed material for the production of commercial potatoes of 1 and 2 reproduction and for the purchase of special equipment, given the large wear and tear of the existing farms in the region.
The Minister of Agriculture of the region, Roman Kalentyev, supported the idea of creating a regional program to support potato growers and instructed to create a working group to prepare the concept.
In addition, an audit of the existing potato storage capacities has been included in the ministry's work plan to assess the need for the creation of logistics structures. The minister also proposed to study the experience of the Republic of Mordovia in creating distribution centers. “We can transfer this model to our region so that our potato growers have guaranteed sales, price and support,” concluded Roman Kalentyev.