Ukrainian potato cultivation professionalises CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Trying to forget the past The Ukrainian crop farmer Mykola Sobchuk, who lives in the village of Ustimovka, grows 100 hectares of potatoes on his 1000 hectare farm. He is a striking example of the increasing number of growers in Ukraine who are professionalising their potato cultivation step-by-step. His machinery is much simpler than that at Mriya. No brand-new Grimme lifters in his farmyard, but he has two second-hand Amac E2 lifters which he has just purchased. Moreover, he has his own workshop, which is important to him so that he can maintain and repair all his equipment when necessary. Out in the field, Sobchuk proudly shows his Melody yield. ‘They have done very well this year, which is thanks to the regular rainfall. Eighty millimetres in June and 50 millimetres even in July. That doesn’t happen a lot’, the enthusiastic grower tells us. To learn more, Sobchuk works closely together with the people of Roseta Agro. The company is active in the Ukraine importing Western European techniques/technology about crop farming and horticulture. One of the companies they represent is Geerlofs Refrigeration. For this purpose, the biggest Ukrainian cold store was constructed in the southern part of the country, which can store 50,000 tons of potatoes and vegetables. Anne Pieter Frings, together with Frederique Vogel, founder of Roseta Agro, has years of experience in Ukraine. He tells us that this is a country that is trying to forget the past. ‘They are cooperative people, who have been suppressed for decades and subsequently have become very sceptical and distrustful of the government. It is an enormous challenge to put practical knowledge about cultivation and the marketing of potatoes across to these people.’ An example of more privatisation seems to be land ownership. After the Soviet time, the plots of land of the large collective farms were divided among the people that worked there. Everybody got 1 or 2 hectares. These plots are usually leased out to professional businesses. The lease is sometimes paid in money (a maximum of 50 euros per hectare) and someFor Anne Pieter Frings (r) it is an enormous challenge to put practical knowledge about cultivation and the marketing of potatoes across to farmers like Mykola Subchuk. times in kind in the form of a few bags of corn or potatoes. There now seems to be a possibility to sell the land, which makes the future for growers such as Sobchuk uncertain. What should you do? Invest further in mechanisation or invest in land in the near future? ● Jaap Delleman Potato World 2012 • number 4 21 Pagina 20
Pagina 22Voor sportbladen, online sportbladen en clubbladen zie het Online Touch CMS beheersysteem systeem. Met de mogelijkheid voor een webshop in uw publicaties.
Potatoworld 2012/4 Lees publicatie 26Home