Garlic harvesting continues these days in the Bright Dawn cooperative. The harvest has been excellent. The Korotkov farmers are one of the few families in the region who grow garlic on an industrial scale. They moved to the Terbunsky district from Voronezh in 2015.
Elena and her husband Konstantin organized the Bright Dawn agricultural cooperative together with their neighbors. At first, vegetables and cereals were grown, and then they relied on winter garlic. “This culture is unpretentious; special conditions are not needed for its cultivation. But the demand for it is high. Many food manufacturers, be it sausage or cannery, require large quantities of garlic. So the direction is promising, and there are not so many competitors here yet, ”says Elena Korotkova.
In 2019, the Bright Dawn cooperative won the competition for grants. With the funds received, they bought a tractor and equipment for growing and working garlic. And already in the fall, the Korotkovs planted the first batch of varietal winter garlic “Shadeika”. They purchased planting material from the originator in Perm. In 2020, Terbun cooperators harvested seven tons of garlic per hectare. The surplus was sold to neighboring regions, everything else went to the next planting. In the future, Bright Dawn plans to organize the processing of vegetables and spices, launch the production of spices and sell the final product directly to the consumer.
The Korotkovs have four sons. Senior Vlad lives and works in Orel. Kirill and Daniil first helped their parents, learned from experience, and when they grew up, they decided to develop their business, became the heads of the peasant farm, but did not leave the cooperative. And Daniel, following his parents, focused on growing garlic. He is one of the youngest winners of the Agrostarap-2019 grant competition. With government assistance, he purchased a truck, a weeder and a cultivator, as well as a small piece of land. And he is already taking the first successful steps in agribusiness. A novice farmer sells part of the grown vegetables at markets and fairs, and leaves a part to increase production volumes. The youngest son of the Korotkovs, Ivan, graduated from school this year and entered the Voronezh Agrarian University with a degree in Agricultural Product Processing Technology. Parents hope that he, too, will continue the family business.