On March 23, speaking at a meeting in the Government House of the republic held by the Prime Minister of Tatarstan Aleksey Pesoshin via video conference with all regions of the republic, Deputy Prime Minister of the republic – Tatarstan Minister of Agriculture and Food Marat Zyabbarov reported on the state of winter crops, preparations for the sowing campaign and the readiness of the equipment.
The Minister of Agriculture emphasized that low night temperatures are still holding back the sharp melting of snow, the thickness of which in the fields reaches 70 cm in some places. Taking into account the weather conditions, he asked farmers to be highly organized in preparing for spring field work. Speaking about the state of winter crops, Tatarstan Minister of Agriculture said that out of 550,000 hectares of winter crops, 65 per cent (352 thousand hectares) went for wintering in good and satisfactory condition, and 35 per cent (198,000 hectares) did not receive the necessary growth and development . The republic today has accumulated mineral fertilizers of 61.8 kg per 1 hectare of crops, which is 2 kg lower than last year. In a number of areas, the accumulation of mineral fertilizers is below 40 kg. Zyabbarov said that the supply of seeds for grain, leguminous and cereal crops is sufficient and amounts to 126 per cent. Testing of seeds for sowing qualities is nearing completion.
The final acceptance of the readiness of farms for spring field work will take place from April 1 to 12, the minister said. He also drew the attention of heads of farms to the temporary closure of roads for freight transport from 1 to 30 April.
Spare parts for 2.8 billion roubles were purchased to prepare the equipment for spring field work, which makes 91 per cent of the required amount.