According to the specialists of the regional Ministry of Agriculture and in accordance with the calculations made, the need of the Ulyanovsk region for vegetables is 130 thousand tons. Positive dynamics in their production is observed annually. If, for example, 2012 thousand tons were produced in 98,9, then in 2014 - already 107 thousand, in 2015 - 116,4 thousand tons.
Last year, this figure increased by another 17 thousand. This year it is planned to produce about 135 thousand tons of vegetables. But this is taking into account the vegetables of closed ground and private household plots. In fact, agricultural enterprises and peasant farms plan to produce 38,5 thousand tons of vegetables.
In other words, the own production of vegetables in the Ulyanovsk region remains less than the need, despite the annual increase in production volumes. Let's not forget about the fact that due to climatic conditions the Ulyanovsk region cannot fully provide itself with early vegetables, as well as tomatoes, peppers, melons. These products are imported from the southern regions of the country, as well as from outside the Russian Federation.
About 68% of vegetables in open ground are produced in personal subsidiary plots of the population. But this volume is intended for domestic consumption, not for sale. Therefore, according to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources of the Ulyanovsk Region Mikhail Semyonkin, the main way to increase the production of vegetables is commodity production in agricultural enterprises and peasant farms.
As for the volume of cultivated areas for vegetables and potatoes, there is a tendency to increase them. Last year, he amounted to 1769 hectares in the SEC and KFH, which is 9% higher than the previous year. In 2017, on the contrary, there was a decrease to 1540 hectares: the weather conditions of spring and half of the summer affected.
There were other reasons. In Karsunsky district, the area decreased from 215 to 118 hectares. It turned out that LLC Farmer, due to the illness of the head, ceased operations, and peasant farm “Fakhretdinov A.Kh.” passed into the status of private household plots. In the Main district, the area decreased very noticeably - from 169 to 28,7 hectares. The case is curious. An individual entrepreneur sowed pumpkin on 150 hectares of peasant farm “Gorin”. I didn’t cultivate the land, didn’t take anything away and, in the end, disappeared. In the Melekessky district, it was considered that vegetable growing was unprofitable for the economy and they were no longer engaged in it. In Ulyanovsk, for various reasons, there was a decrease in sown area from 316 to 279 hectares.
A separate conversation about potatoes. Its internal consumption is 140, taking into account the consumption for seeds - 200 thousand tons. This year it is planned to produce at least 230 thousand tons of potatoes, including 25 thousand tons in agricultural organizations and peasant farms. Thus, taking into account private household plots, the population of the Ulyanovsk region is provided with potatoes of its own production in full.
The main problem is the provision of potatoes to the urban population. Moreover, the situation on it in agricultural enterprises and peasant farms is similar to the situation with vegetables: from 2033 hectares last year, the size of sown areas fell to 1693 nectars.
Increased area under potatoes Staromainsky and Terengulsky areas. But 7 districts reduced it. The reasons are the same for everyone: potatoes were removed from hectare support, there are no subsidies, the costs are large, and it is difficult to realize. Meanwhile, according to preliminary forecasts, the gross harvest of the crop will remain at the level of last year.
As Mikhail Semyonkin explains, the production of vegetables and potatoes is an extremely costly branch of the agricultural business. If the costs per 1 hectare of sown area are 9 870 rubles for grain, then 78 656 for potatoes, and even more for vegetables - 205 thousand rubles. At the same time, there is a very high dependence on imports in their production: seeds, plant protection products. Accordingly, the growth of the ruble rate against world currencies automatically led to a sharp rise in the cost of material and technical resources in the current year. Practice, however, shows that, despite the high cost, growing vegetables and potatoes is a profitable business.
Victor Nikitin, http://media73.ru