The President is on a working visit to Slobodzeya district. Current issues of the district’s life were discussed with the head of the local state administration. Vasily Tishchenko informed about progress in the infrastructure projects implementation. Particular attention was paid to the state of affairs in agriculture. This is the most important direction of the regional economy. It was noted that Slobodzeya residents sowed 35.7 thousand hectares with grains and pulses this year. A quarter of the area was harvested – 9.3 thousand hectares. It made 38.6 thousand tons. The average yield at the moment is 41.6 c/ha. Minister of Agriculture Oleg Diligul, who participated in the offsite meeting, drew attention to the fact that the arable lands of the Slobodzeya district with these crops are the largest. Rybnitsa district (33 thousand hectares) is in the second place, Grigoriopol district (30 thousand hectares) is in the third place. 122.6 thousand hectares totally were sown with grains and pulses throughout the republic.
The President asked about the coverage of Slobodzeya land users in such an area as vegetable growing. Vegetables were planted on 917 hectares. Green peas and sweet corn accounted for two thirds. The first one has already been collected, the second one is just maturing. Zucchini, cucumbers and sweet peppers are now being actively harvested (87%, 74% and 50% have been harvested, respectively). Potatoes are planted on fields of 285 hectares. No more than one percent had been harvested by the beginning of July. 30.9 hectares were allocated for berry gardens. The harvest has been collected. The total weight exceeded 202 tons. The gardens of Slobodzeya district occupy 1058 hectares. Two hundred tons of cherries, 68 tons of apricots, and 22 tons of plums were collected. The process is going on. Local farmers allocated about 20 thousand hectares for industrial crops. A little more than 6% has been harvested so far. Feeding crops occupy 370 hectares, melons – 40 hectares, the President was told.
They talked about the state and development of the reclamation complex of the region and the republic as a whole. Oleg Diligul reported that as of July 1, 13 million cubic meters of irrigation water were supplied to 25 thousand hectares of Pridnestrovian farmland. Conditions have been created for irrigation of 34 thousand hectares. There are 67 pumping stations in operation. It is planned to launch three more units in the foreseeable future, which will increase the area of irrigated land to 40 thousand hectares. The participants of the offsite meeting noted that such indicators, although lower than the Soviet ones, when the reclamation complex served more than 60 thousand hectares, are comparable in efficiency. This is due to improvements in technology. They mentioned the stability of the price of irrigation water and other types of state support provided to farmers.
Vadim Krasnoselsky visited one of the pumping stations of the reclamation complex of Slobodzeya district – No. 9. It is located in the village of Blizhny Khutor. Head of Agrosid LLC Igor Voronov told the President that the equipment was updated in 2022 using a soft loan. The four new pumps are more productive than the old ones and at the same time significantly more economical in terms of energy consumption, according to him. Eight irrigation units have been installed. The volume of the storage pool is 25 thousand cubic meters, depth is 3.5 meters. This station currently serves 760 hectares of land. Agrosid has 2700 hectares of land in total. 2 thousand hectares under irrigation. credit resources allocated by the state on preferential terms in addition to updating reclamation equipment were used to replenish the technology park – three new combines were purchased. 55 people work in the agricultural company. The products – wheat, spring barley and peas, sunflower and corn – are mainly exported. They say this year's harvest is not bad. The rapeseed has already been harvested. Wheat is next. About a third were collected. The agricultural fields, with the exception of one urban one, are located in the village of Blizhny Khutor. Vadim Krasnoselsky examined one of them, on which the new variety of winter wheat “Wisdom” is spiring. The seeds were brought from the Odessa region. 160 hectares were sown. The yield reaches 85 centners per hectare, in non-irrigated areas up to 50 centners per hectare in irrigated areas. This is a very high figure, land users noted with satisfaction. Vadim Krasnoselsky asked if crop rotation was observed. They say this is a prerequisite. Next year, sunflower or rapeseed will be planted in place of wheat. Vasily Tishchenko focused on the fallacy of the common opinion that rapeseed is a bad predecessor for sowing other crops. This plant takes a lot from the soil, but the supply of fertilizers is sufficient for subsequent planting taking into consideration that the soil is enriched in a special way for it.
The President was interested in whether there are enough qualified personnel and whether cooperation has been established with specialized educational institutions. According to agricultural producers, they cooperate with the Frunze State Farm-Technical School. Young people often undergo practical training at Agrosid, but few remain permanently employed, although the interest in agriculture among young people is growing, the minister stated. Oleg Diligul said that the learning process at the technical school is practice-oriented, and said that the educational institution has updated its fleet of agricultural machinery. There is a demand for a specialty related to the maintenance of irrigation systems.
Another agricultural company of Nizhny Khutor, which was visited today by a representative delegation led by the PMR President, is Plantator. Its modern production history spans more than two decades. The organization was created in 2003 on the basis of the former state farm named after Michurin. 65 people were employed. They are engaged in farming. The arable area is about nine hundred hectares. Winter wheat harvesting is now underway. Soybeans were sown so that the land would not stand idle in place of the harvested barley, said the director of the enterprise Igor Martyn, noting that soybeans improve the condition of the soil. It is also an excellent source of food, rich in protein. This crop is extremely important in the development of livestock farming. A new product this agricultural season for the Plantator company is lentils. It was sown for the first time. The crop is drought-resistant and does not require watering. They plan to collect about 200 tons.
Parkany was visited by the presidential inspection. Vadim Krasnoselsky met there with representatives of Agropark LLC. The team is relatively small – one and a half dozen people. Their lands 430 hectares were sown with wheat, corn, sunflowers, rapeseed, melons, eggplants, as well as the components of the so-called borscht set – tomatoes, beets, onions, sweet peppers this year. Vladimir Timofeev said that only carrots were not planted this year. The rapeseed has been harvested like the neighbors. The yield this season is 4 tons per hectare, according to preliminary estimates. Wheat harvesting is in full swing.
Irrigation covers half of the area of Agropark LLC. Not all fields have the technical ability to install irrigation units, since power lines pass over the plots. Vadim Krasnoselsky was interested in which crops are preferred in this regard. They talked about sales markets and specific varieties of vegetables that local consumers prefer. The issues related to the forced change in logistics and the impact of this circumstance on the profitability of agricultural production were discussed. The farmers shared their plans for production development, expressing gratitude for the stability of state policy in terms of supporting the agro-industrial complex.
