The season of young vegetables has begun, and potatoes, carrots and beets of the new crop have already appeared on sale. The VO correspondent walked through the malls and found out whether there would be enough carrots and beets for the winter and whether the sanctions would affect the cost of borscht.
Young potatoes for every taste
At the Preobrazhensky market, trade starts at eight in the morning, and at this time it is already quite crowded. Last year’s vegetables are not to be found on the shelves: they sell young cabbage and potatoes from the Rostov, Belgorod, Tambov regions and from the Kuban.
- Buy fresh Belgorod potatoes – “blue-eyed”, – one of the hawkers turns to me.
— How much?
- The average market price is 60 rubles per kilo. This variety is excellent for brewing. The young “blue-eye” turns out to be tender and crumbly, he praises his product.
Nearby, young potatoes of the Nevskaya variety are sold at the same price, the seller is Elena Maneshina from the Tambov region.
— I grow these potatoes myself, I am responsible for the quality. “Nevskaya” does not fall apart during heat treatment, keeps its shape perfectly. I advise her to cook and cut into salads, she says.
Farmers are not afraid of sanctions
Elena Maneshina, 56, on her 50 acres of land in the village of Soldatskaya Dukhovka near Tambov, grows all the vegetables of the borscht set: onions, beets, carrots, cabbage. And also – sweet peppers, garlic, zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes. She is sure that their rise in price and deficit is not expected.
- Seeds and planting tubers are enough. Farmers have already planted their areas. The harvest should be good this year, so there is nothing for vegetables to rise in price yet,” she emphasizes.
In her farm, Elena does not use chemical fertilizers, but only once every few years enriches the soil with manure. She is not afraid of the consequences of the sanctions, because she believes that they cannot interfere with her small subsidiary farm in any way.
I don’t need any import substitution. I only occasionally bought additional Dutch beet seeds, but even if they are no longer brought in, my seeds will be enough for me. There is nothing to worry about, we will grow vegetables and feed everyone, – says Elena.
Establish seed centers
Gury Shilov, executive director of the National Fruit and Vegetable Union, agrees with her opinion. According to him, this year the farmers plan to harvest even more vegetables than last year, by about 5-7%. This is because farmers and agricultural holdings are increasing their acreage.
- In total, there are about 40 thousand vegetable farms in the country. They produce about 5 million tons of vegetables in the open field. This is just potatoes, carrots, beets and cabbage. Russia fully provides itself with these vegetables, as well as greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes, – emphasizes Gury Shilov.
True, it happens that in March, potatoes for stores in large cities are bought in Egypt, Turkey and Uzbekistan. And these countries are currently expanding economic ties with Russia and plan to increase the volume of vegetable exports.
- Of course, you need to rely more on your own strength. Therefore, the state now subsidizes the creation of seed centers, covering 20% of the costs. In the near future, this support is planned to be increased to 50%, says Shilov.
