On the potato field

OJSC "Chareyshchyna" has the largest potato-growing areas in the district – 125 hectares. The start of the day. At the mechanical yard, two tractors with potato harvesters are ready.

OJSC "Chareyshchyna" has the largest potato-growing areas in the district – 125 hectares. The start of the day. At the mechanical yard, two tractors with potato harvesters are ready. Tractor drivers Vasily Lobkis and Sergey Pligavka are carrying out equipment repairs. Every morning, two to three hours are dedicated to this. Otherwise, it's impossible – the equipment is quite old. Sergey's harvester was manufactured in 2008, Vasily's in 2006. At the same time, the durability of potato harvesters is designed for three to four seasons; in subsequent years, they break down more and more frequently.

For instance, on that day, Sergey, along with welder Alexander Shartukh, repaired a breakdown that occurred the previous day due to a stone, which, incidentally, are abundant in the fields of "Chareyshchyna". Vasily, on the other hand, was replacing a torn conveyor belt.

Economists have proven that potato cultivation is a business with a rather high cost price. It becomes profitable with a favourable, high selling price. For example, this was the case in 2010 when the profitability of potatoes was 85 percent. However, last year, they incurred small losses. They spent 552 million rubles, and only 549 million were earned from the sale of the harvest.

Why does "Chareyshchyna" still stick with potatoes? Firstly, such loss-making years are rare; usually, potatoes yield about ten percent profitability. Secondly, the farm has potato storage facilities where it can accommodate almost the entire harvested crop – about one and a half thousand tons. Throughout the winter, the tubers are sorted and sold, and the money received is used to purchase diesel fuel and lubricants.

OJSC "Chareyshchyna" has begun selling potatoes. We are approximately calculating how profitable the crop will be together with the chief economist of the farm, Elena Davydova.

This year, it is planned to harvest about 1500 tons. The preliminary cost price of each kilogram is at the level of 810 rubles per kilogram. The marketable quality of potatoes this year is 50%, meaning that only 750 tons are large, good tubers that can be sold to consumers. The rest are medium-sized potatoes (seed material) and small ones. This means that to cover expenses, we must sell marketable potatoes at no less than 1620 rubles per kilogram. So far, buyers are purchasing from us at 1700 rubles per kg. In winter and spring, the price will undoubtedly rise, and those who have established the process of storing and sorting vegetables will profit.

And here is the field. An MTZ-820 tractor with a potato planter is dispersing the soil. Tractors with empty trailers and MAZ trucks are standing at the edge. On the field are groups of students from the agricultural technical college and the state vocational lyceum. The farm management has promised to reward the students. One person from each educational institution who collects the most potatoes will receive one million rubles, and those who collect the most potatoes on average per day will also receive one million rubles. Some groups have been participating in the harvest for a week, while others have been doing so for much longer.

At the far end are pupils from the Sloboda Secondary School. 19 boys and girls from the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades, under the guidance of history teacher Valery Vladimirovich Tukhta, were digging up tubers, filling a tractor trailer with them. These are village youngsters, and this work is familiar to them. In addition to receiving wages, the school will receive ten percent of the potatoes dug up by the pupils. The vegetables will be brought to the school and used for preparing lunches. In short, this cooperation will be beneficial to all participants.

Agronomist Igor Parahonka is observing the process in the field. The average yield is about 120 centners per hectare. They planted their own seed material, the "Skarb" variety of the third reproduction. In addition, in the spring, they purchased four tons of elite seed material of the "Charadzei" variety from the Tolochin Cannery. This was enough for one hectare. They have not harvested it yet, and they still hope that the elite variety will not let them down. They expect to obtain ten tons of first reproduction seed potatoes to gradually expand the areas and replace obsolete varieties.

Vasily MATYRKA.

In the photo: Sloboda schoolchildren in the potato field.
Photo by the author.