The students of the “Farmer’s School” of the Rosselkhoznadzor in the Irkutsk region visited the peasant farm of Leonid Kichigin, which is considered a breakthrough site in the region, since advanced technologies were among the first to be applied here. The farm uses “artificial rain”, and onions are grown using drip irrigation, where nutrients are introduced simultaneously with water. Novice farmers studying crop production learned about the secrets of virus-free potatoes, irrigation systems and much more. About this SIA.RU was told in the bank.
The tour of the production sites of the enterprise located in the Usolsky district was conducted by the owner of the production Leonid Kichigin. He told future agribusinesses his story of becoming a farmer. Initially, Leonid’s father was engaged in potato cultivation, increased the volume of areas, engaged in shared lands and agreed on the sale of products. And in high school, Leonid himself began to delve into the production process and introduce modern approaches and technologies.
The owner of the production shared useful information with future plant breeders: how to choose seed potatoes, calculate fertilizers, took students through storage rooms and told about the subtleties of storing vegetables. The students of the “Farmer’s School” learned about what potato microtubers are, how vegetable varieties are cloned and how virus-free potatoes are grown in a test tube in the farm’s own laboratory.
“When growing potatoes, we use phyto-cleaning, active irrigation. We have 26 varieties of potatoes in our collection, we have launched a laboratory for microclonal plant reproduction. It conducts experiments on the cultivation of virus-free tubers, creates its own collection of seed potatoes. When building an agribusiness, I recommend not to be afraid to invest in the process of sowing and growing vegetables – these costs should be considered as investments, with the right approach you can reduce the cost of the product – and this is what will make a profit at the implementation stage,” shared the experience of the head Leonid Kichigin.
The practical lesson was held in the format of a dialogue without limiting the range of issues. The listeners were interested in both the technical aspects of production and the secrets of successful business, learned the basic principles of the laboratory and saw modern equipment used for watering fields. The vegetable storages were interested in the ventilation, drying and storage system. According to the video results of the harvesting campaign, we saw modern combines for harvesting potatoes and carrots.
“The very history of the family, formation and movement to the level of production that we have seen now turned out to be very interesting. I was bribed by Leonid’s openness and maximum professionalism – complete answers in all areas, from potato breeding to the nuances of storage and the level of the sales market, one feels immersion in the process, interest. Knowledge about the importance of irrigation systems, moreover, for each root crop separately, turned out to be very useful. How much does this affect the yield and quality of vegetables grown. This practice motivates, makes you understand that if you approach the agricultural business competently, you can achieve high results. My brother and I are engaged in growing potatoes ourselves, and this practical trip gave a lot of information for our further work. And the main understanding is that we will buy potato seeds here – this is the basis of productivity, and subsequent profits, respectively,” said Andrey Shcherbakov, a student of the Farmer’s School.
To date, the farm provides itself with 100% seed material, now there are 26 potato varieties in the line. There are plans for seed production for the private sector.
“What distinguishes Leonid Kichigin’s farm is a clear organization of business, maintenance of land and production sites. Here is a good example when family experience and modern technologies work for the development of the economy. Since 2008, the Kichigins have done extensive work and turned the farm into a profitable project. Now it is one of the largest enterprises that supply Irkutsk stores with potatoes, beets, carrots. And we have achieved great success in growing onions – which is not so easy to do in our region. I am sure that such experience is necessary for our students of the Farmer’s School to achieve high results not only in the preparation of business plans, but, most importantly, in the development of their own farms,” said Natalia Barkova, director of the Irkutsk branch of the Rosselkhoznadzor.
In the Irkutsk region, the educational project “Farmer’s School” is being implemented with the support of the regional government, together with the regional Ministry of Agriculture, the Rosselkhozcenter and the Irkutsk State Agrarian University. The training is conducted in two of the most popular areas in the region – crop production and animal husbandry.
A source: https://sia.ru
