Who would have thought that in Pridnestrovie, a land which was famous throughout the Soviet Union for its fruits and vegetables, there would be a shortage of agricultural specialists. Meanwhile, today in the domestic agrarian and industrial complex they often complain about “personnel shortage”. No one will say exactly how many agronomists, gardeners, machine operators, land reclamation specialists and combine operators there are needed today. Such a generalized statistics is not being maintained according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. However, the leaders of agricultural enterprises say that today it's extraordinary to meet a qualified worker. The correspondent of Novosti Pridnestrovya news agency tried to understand why that was happening.
Issue of Prestige
Since the 90s of the last century, a stereotype has been established that the agriculture sphere is not attractive for young people. Today, according to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources Oleg Diligul, we can observe a resurgent interest in agriculture.
“The branch of agriculture has become attractive for investments, and we lack land for everyone who wants to cultivate it. 15–20 years ago the situation was completely different. Salaries were low, it was often delayed, the prestige of work in agriculture was minimal. Today the situation is changing. Motivation and salary are growing. Working conditions are also changing,” Diligul says.
The average salary in the agricultural sector, according to the State Statistics Service, was 3,700 rubles in the first quarter of 2019. At the same time, many agricultural enterprises are willing to pay above average to a highly qualified specialist. For example, drivers of specialized equipment, machine operators earn at least 7–8 thousand rubles a month (during certain season) at a large agricultural firm. On top of that, employers provide their employees with food, clothing, and even help with apartment purchasing.
Agriculture Specialists` Level of Training
The sphere of agriculture, like other sectors of the economy, does not stand still. There are new methods of farming, new technologies that require the use of modern high-performance equipment. But the qualification of the agronomist, driver or machine operator does not always meet the requirements of the employing enterprise.
“The technique used in the field is expensive. It is computerized, and to work with it requires high qualification of the operator – now it is difficult to call him just a tractor driver. The same applies to combiners, and those who operate self-propelled sprayers, powerful energy-rich tractors with wide-grip seeders,” Oleg Diligul noted.
As the farmers themselves say, in order to compete successfully in the market, it is necessary to introduce new technologies. They allow you to increase yield and save energy. At the same time, the requirements for the qualifications of employees at agroindustrial firms often do not coincide with the program of specialized educational institutions.
The reason is that the material and technical base of educational institutions is inferior to the machine-tractor fleet of agricultural organizations: modern agricultural machinery is absent, and training takes place on outdated tractors and combines. There is simply no money for a new one.
Nevertheless, they can prepare a good specialist, according to the dean of the agrarian-technical faculty of the Pridnestrovian State University named after T. G. Shevchenko Anatoly Dimoglo.
The university is now preparing personnel for the agricultural sector in 5 areas. 50–60 specialists graduate annually: agronomists of various profiles, veterinarians, mechanical engineers, food process technologists.
According to Anatoly Dimoglo, the popularity of professions in the field of agriculture is growing every year.
“Young people are beginning to understand that the agricultural sector is actively developing in the country, good wages are being offered. There are applications from large agricultural producers who personally come to the faculty and select the best graduates for themselves. If we take the last few output, all young specialists were distributed,” the head of the ATF of PSU stressed.
But if agroindustrial firms hire highly qualified specialists before they actually got a diploma in their hands, then why some enterprises still complain about the quality of training of those machine operators, gardeners, agronomists?
Firstly, because the number of agricultural enterprises is growing every year, and there are few specialists who meet all the requirements of the agricultural enterprise.
The dean of the ATP PSU also paid attention to that fact. According to Anatoly Dimoglo, many agroindustrial firms want to hire a prepared employee. So that he knows the specifics of the certain producer`s equipment manufacture that is used on their fields and gardens; how to work with the means of protection on crops grown in a complex.
“Here you need to understand that we are giving a base and any specialist needs a period of adaptation in a new workplace. There should be a mutual interest: the young worker will quickly master the specifics of the agroindustrial firm, and the employer will help him with this,” the dean of the ATF PGU said.
Resource Center
Heads of educational institutions of agrarian orientation have long complained about the outdated base for training specialists - machine operators, drivers, etc. It is not that this technique is completely unsuitable for training; the thing is that today agricultural enterprises are increasingly acquiring combines, seeders, tractors of a new generation. Its management is significantly different from the technology, released 10-20 years ago.
Of course, colleges, technical schools and the university are not able to independently acquire new equipment for training future agriculture specialists. The creation of a Resource Training Center for the AIC of the Republic and equipping it with necessary equipment and literature could solve this problem. A similar proposal at a meeting with the President of the PMR was voiced by the Director of the Tiraspol Agrarian Technical College named after M.F. Frunze, Alla Gurova. Now the issue is under consideration by the Government.
“The question is being discussed. Funding is required. Both the State and enterprises will invest, because they are the ultimate beneficiaries and are interested in obtaining qualified personnel more than anyone else,” Diligul emphasized.
If such a center appears, where the main types of agricultural machinery in demand in the Pridnestrovian Republic will be concentrated, this will be a step forward, according to Anatoly Dimoglo. At the same time, he stressed that in the end, the results of graduation would more depend on that same specialist.
“Even if they are trained on a new technology, it will still be outdated in a year or two and a newer one will appear. We can not cover such an abundance of equipment. There are many manufacturers, and technology is not fundamentally different, but only by some nuances, and a person who possesses awareness, can quickly learn it. Raising a person with awareness is a task for the university,” the dean of the ATF PSU emphasized.
Dual Education
In Pridnestrovie, they have been trying to popularize working professions and train personnel for the real economy with the help of dual education for over a year. The projects successfully proved to be applicable to light industry, metallurgy, electrical production. Now they are being proposed to expand to the field of agriculture. This training system assumes that the student will spend most of the time not in the classroom, but “in the field”.
Actually, even now no educational institution prepares a specialist without practical training. It is just that in each the percentage of theory and practice “in the field” differs depending on the sector of the economy. The dual system will allow this system to improve and attract more enterprises to it - future employers. Accepting students to practice, they will be able to acquaint them with their specifics and be interested to come to them after graduation.
For example, there are Pridnestrovian enterprises EuroRostAgro, Agrocompact, AgrikolPPK. Intensive gardens were planted on their land according to a compacted scheme with drip irrigation and anti-hail protection. Regular treatments of such gardens against pests and diseases require special knowledge that can only be obtained in practice. Farmers say that it is not yet being taught in schools.
“We understand that today in order to compete in foreign markets, it is necessary to reduce the cost of production, while improving its quality. Therefore, we use advanced technology in agriculture. Going on internship in agroindustrial firms like ours, students will develop simultaneously with our enterprise and acquire knowledge that they have not yet been taught at a university,” Yuri Diutsa, Director of EuroRostAgro says.
Working in Good Conditions and Making Good Wages
Today EuroRostAgro is one of the leading enterprises not only in the Slobodzeya region, but also in the whole of Pridnestrovie. Modern technology and the use of new technologies of cultivation of land demanded special knowledge from workers. Local experts were almost unfamiliar with the innovations in the field of agriculture. The company management had to train them independently or invite consultants from abroad.
“Our enterprise is located close to the city, and when we are planting seedlings or harvesting, we find handymen. As for professional personnel, such as machine operators, agronomists, these specialists are almost always in short supply. Now we are staffed, but we would be ready to take two more agronomists to new areas - berries and stone fruit. We provide decent wages, a bonus system is provided,” Yuri Diutsa noted.
He said that at his enterprise an agronomist earns 9 thousand rubles a month during a certain season. While they are ready to pay 5-6 thousand rubles to the assistant agronomist.
As for machine operators, 80% of their wages are piecework. Its size depends on the amount of work performed, taking into account their quality, complexity and working conditions. Specialists who perform more complex work on the field earn an average of 7 to 9 thousand rubles per month (depending on the season). Those workers who, for example, are engaged in the supply of water or the export of crops, earn from 4.5 to 6 thousand PMR rubles.
In Dubossary, the main employer in the field of agriculture is Lender Agroprim. Its director, the Italian investor Roberto Guardigli, also complained about the lack of specialists: agronomists and machine operators.
“Those who wanted to work, had migrated for work long ago. There are very few specialists left. Not enough agronomists. New technology - you also need to be able to work on it. We can make specialists come back only if we offer them a high salary: no less than $ 600 for qualified personnel,” Roberto believes.
The company Lender Agroprim now employs 120 people. 85% of them are specialists older than 40 years old, and there will be no more than 20 employees up to 35 years old, according to HR rep of the agricultural firm Tatyana Cheban.
“Our salaries are actually pretty high. Agronomists, tractor operators and machine operators receive up to 10 thousand rubles per season, and an average of 7–8 thousand PMR rubles per month to an average annual rate,” Tatiana Cheban noted.
In addition, the company provides its employees with a social package: in addition to the salary, it provides financial assistance, pays for sick leave, and provides clothing. The tractor drivers and combine operators are provided with free meals.
In order to reinforce the specialists in the area, the company’s management is currently negotiating with banks to provide Lender Agroprim employees with preferential lending terms for the apartment purchase.
Labor Force is In Short Supply
The agroindustrial complex has a shortage of not only qualified personnel, but also of ordinary workers. This problem is especially felt by agricultural firms focused on the production of vegetables, fruits and berries. Most of the products are being picked manually, and here qualification and performance are important.
“If we plan to develop these industries, we will need workers. In recent years, many agricultural producers began to increase the area for planting vegetables and berries. The harvest was many times greater, so it took more seasonal workers to harvest it, respectively. For example, in Kamenka District there was an excess of labor force. The Put` Lenina collective farm - here the village Khrustovaya is the main supplier of labor resources. While there is a problem with labor resources in other areas,” Oleg Diligul said.
Slobodzeya district, the village of Karagash. There is an acute problem with the workforce in the agroindustrial firm Agrosem, and not only with qualified one. As soon as the strawberry season began, they tried to attract residents of the village of Karagash and nearby settlements to pick it. But, even despite the relatively high pay, there were only few people willing to do that.
As explained by the Director of the Agrosem company Gennady Petriman, last year the company increased the area for planting strawberries, and therefore it took more work this season.
“After we put out an advertisement, we managed to gather the necessary number of people to pick berries. These are mostly schoolchildren of 15–16 years old who have passed exams at schools and have free time,” Gennady Petriman said.
It turns out that the staffing issue of the industry needs to be solved only together with the Government, educational institutions, and agricultural enterprises of the republic. To raise the level of training in technical colleges and universities, actively implement practice-oriented training, revive the mentoring system, enhance the prestige of agricultural professions and create favorable working conditions.
Irina Iordanova
