Tatarstan President: Today the major task is to organize successful spring sowing campaign

On February 24, at the Kazan Expo International Exhibition Centre, speaking at a summing up meeting of Tatarstan Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said that the major task is to organize successful spring sowing campaign.

According to Minnikhanov, on the eve of the sowing campaign, it is necessary to complete the preparation of the machine and tractor fleet as soon as possible. He said that in the last two years, Tatarstan farmers have purchased over 7,000 units of new equipment. And this work will continue.

Tatarstan President called еimely funding one of the key factors for successful field work. Last year, crop growers incurred large expenses, so they are in particular need of soft loans. The previously determined limit on preferential lending is still insufficient, Minnikhanov noted.

“The next issue is improving soil fertility. First of all, we are talking about fertilizers. Work needs to be done here. The task is to accumulate at least 70 kg of active substance per hectare. The Russian government has made decisions that will enable agricultural enterprises to purchase the necessary amount of fertilizers,” Tatarstan President said.

Minnikhanov separately thanked the oil workers for supporting the farmers with high-quality preferential diesel fuel. Tatneft Oil Company has already confirmed its readiness to help agricultural producers this year.

The most important task is to increase the efficiency of agricultural production. Minnikhanov emphasized that the total harvest should be at least 4 million tonnes. To solve this problem, it is necessary to comply with all technologies and agrotechnical terms. There are positive examples of agricultural enterprises with high profitability in the republic.

According to Tatarstan President, last year exposed a number of problematic issues. Thus, farmers insured only 8 per cent of crops, also a shortage of vegetables was revealed, that led to higher prices. To solve this problem, Minnikhanov called for the development of a system of vegetable stores - today it is planned to build 9 such facilities. To stabilize prices, he proposed to increase the sown area under vegetables.

Tatarstan remains one of the leaders in the livestock sector, in particular, in milk production. At the same time, there is a negative trend to reduce the number of cows. In some cases, this is due to the improvement of the dairy herd. “It is necessary to develop livestock farming in rural areas. Milk production is a stable source of income for the population. The issue therefore has a social focus,” Minnikhanov said.

Minnikhanov also called the veterinary safety situation alarming. Last year, cases of foot-and-mouth disease were registered in neighbouring regions. Its presence in the republic could be a disaster for livestock breeding. He instructed all relevant services to monitor this issue strictly.

Tatarstan President emphasized that wages in the agro-industrial complex remain one of the pressing issues. Its level remains low, namely in Rybno-Slobodsky, Agryzsky, Novosheshminsky, Spassky, Kaibitsky and Apastovsky regions. At the same time, in Mamadysh, Yelabuga and Chistopol regions, farmers receive a decent income. “The issue of salary is the retention of personnel and the quality of specialists,” Minnikhanov added.

Deputy Prime Minister of the republic – Tatarstan Minister of Agriculture and Food Marat Zyabbarov made a keynote report and said that in the reported year the value of gross output in all categories amounted to 237.2 billion roubles, the production index was 80.1 per cent (61.3 per cent crop production, 100.1 per cent livestock production).

Over the previous year, Tatarstan retained its position in the production of milk, however, because of the drought, it lost positions in the collection of grain, vegetables and beets.

During the meeting, Tatarstan President visited the 4th specialized agricultural exhibition of achievements of the agro-industrial complex "TatAgroExpo".