Within the framework of the holiday, the best collective and personal vegetable farms were awarded for the first time.
In the village of Bagaevskaya, the 10th anniversary holiday “Day of the Cucumber” was held. The event was organized with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Rostov Region and the Administration of the Bagaevsky District.
The cucumber holiday began with a colorful fair that unfolded in the park area of the village of Bagaevskaya.
The grand opening of the event took place on the central square of the village. The event was attended by Minister of Agriculture Konstantin Rachalovsky, Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Vyacheslav Vasilenko and Head of the Bagaevsky District Administration Alexander Chernykh.
“The village of Bagaevskaya can rightly be called the cucumber capital of the Don, since the village justifies this title by 100 percent,” Konstantin Rachalovsky emphasized at the official opening ceremony. – To date, the Bagaevites have already grown almost 10 thousand tons of cucumbers, and at the end of the “vegetable” season, a gross harvest of at least 25 thousand tons is expected. And this is about 40% of the total production in the Rostov region.”
The Agrarian Minister noted that such a harvest is achieved, among other things, thanks to a developed irrigation system, since the area of irrigated land in the Bagaevsky district is 26.5 thousand hectares.
“State support also plays a significant role,” First Deputy Governor Viktor Goncharov commented on the results of the holiday. – In 2022, about 8 billion rubles are provided for the development of the agro-industrial complex, including almost 2.5 billion directly for crop production. In general, the Rostov region ranks 5th in the production of vegetables in Russia. Industrial vegetable growing of open ground in the Rostov region is concentrated in 10 municipal districts of the Southern, Azov and Central irrigated zones of the Don region. More than 100 agricultural organizations are engaged in growing vegetables.
As it was noted at the holiday, vegetable growing regions have their own specialization. So, if the Bagaevsky district is famous for cucumbers, the well-known Krivyansky tomatoes are grown in the Oktyabrsky district, and the Azov district is traditionally the leader in the production of onions. The leadership in potato production deservedly belongs to the Semikarakorsk and Veselovsky districts.
“The climatic conditions of our region are favorable for the cultivation of vegetable crops, but the main component of success is, first of all, the labor of people,” said Konstantin Rachalovsky. “I want to thank all vegetable growers and wish them further success.”
As part of the Cucumber Day, the best collective and personal vegetable farms were awarded.
After opening speeches and awarding the best workers, the guests pickled a barrel of cucumbers right on the stage, starting the informal part of the holiday.
After the opening, everyone was invited to taste cucumber dishes. At the festival, you could try both lightly salted and pickled cucumbers, and gherkins made according to a special recipe, cucumber pies, cucumber kebabs and even cucumber jam. Some cooks have prepared whole compositions of cucumber dishes.
The event continued with the performance of the Cossack folklore groups, who came from different parts of the region.
At the fair it was possible to purchase various goods of Don farmers. In her work, the Tasty Friday project, implemented by the Russian Agricultural Bank, was presented. The purpose of this project is to popularize the products of local manufacturers. At the Tasty Friday stand, Don agricultural producers offered their goods to the guests and talked about the process of their production. The participants of the mini-fair were the manufacturer of cereals from the Zernograd region LLC PKF “Mayak” and the bakery from the village of Chaltyr “Georgievskaya”.
As part of the holiday, an exhibition of products by masters of applied art was organized, hospitable Cossack kurens worked, and sports competitions were held.