Field days: Federal Ministry of Agriculture approves Tatarstan support system for

Plus 500 jobs

The Field Days began with farmers’ award ceremony. This year, according to Khabipov, the biggest sum has been given during 7 years of the state programme’s operation: “It is 350 million rubles for family farms, 250 for beginners and 300 million rubles for cooperatives.”

About 150 farmers got grants from the Ministry of Agriculture in Young Farmer, Family Livestock Breeding Farm, Development of Infrastructure of Consumer Cooperatives.

105 out of 132 young farmers who had filed in applications got the grants. More than a half in Family Farm was cut off — only 30 in 62 applications were approved. Only 4 in 10 cooperatives turned out successful. The Ministry of Agriculture expects the farms to purchase over 2,400 dairy cows, over 10,000 sheep with the money they got. “Agricultural producers ended the last year with 108% growth dynamics, this year there is a chance to end the year with 10% growth,” Khabipov shared with journalists after the ceremony. There will be created 500 jobs: “It is additional support of the environment, great support to conserve the principles of the countryside”.

Millions

“The commission was very strict, we did all the work online; you know that public money can’t be just handed out, and we must clearly know about their effective use,” claimed first Vice Minister of Agriculture Nikolay Titov.

For instance, some farmers said about plans to purchase robots in their business plans. Two family farms of them got grants — Minsina Latypova from Vysokaya Gora District and another farmer from Kukmor District.

Titov introduced Aygul Khanova from Tukay District as the successor of the dynasty: “Just imagine how much poultry she has, a bit more than half a million!” the hall began to applaud. Khanov got a 20-million grant. She told Realnoe Vremya that just several people hold this huge household: “This is our head, three daughters, sons-in-law, grandchildren. It is a family dynasty — parents have been working since 1989, for almost 30 years. We work from dawn to dusk, around the clock.”

Kamil Sandipov from Purveyor cooperative got a grant equal to 7,9 million rubles: “One’s own money must account for at least 40% in percentage terms,” he explained. There were grants totalling a bit more than a million rubles.

“The rules are very strict, I have been working for a very long time, but I’ve applied this year for the first time. I have different businesses: dairy — 100 cows, meat — 120 livestock units. We want to purchase rams and ewes,” Sandipov says. Purveyor supplies to over 27 districts of the republic (“we have fed 800 schools and kindergartens this winter”), the interlocutor noted but added that it is an average cooperative across the district.

Agro exhibition with president

The president’s helicopter landed on a site next to the entrance to the agro exhibition at 10 a.m. Almost immediately he was shown products of exhibitors who were so many this year that the showcase lasted for 1,5 hours — it was companies producing fertilisers, various equipment from tractors to milking robots. The president was also shown the smart shop for Digital Village farm at less than a million rubles, as representative of the company Bulat Zamaliyev recommended it.

“We don’t need a salesperson there, we use artificial intelligence technologies, solar batteries — it is a fully autonomous building that solves numerous problems in the countryside.” According to the company’s representative, the system will pay back in less than 5 years with a population of over 200 people. “Come on, come on, work,” the president reacted. “This kind used to be done in Japan,” State Adviser of the Republic of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiyev who arrived in the exhibition said in Tatar.

A big delegation came together with Minnikhanov: State Secretary and Vice Minister of Agriculture of Russia Ivan Lebedev, Premier Aleksey Pesoshin, the head of the Tatarstan Ministry of Agriculture and many others.

We should remind that the president visited the opening of August factory in Alabuga SEZ about two weeks ago, their products were also laid out on the exhibition. The company will produce 50 million litres of crop protection agents. 167 companies from 24 regions of Russia and Belarus took part in the exhibition. Visitors could see the crops themselves: buckwheat, soy, wheat, rye, maize and other plants, which were sowed right there. The president was offered to taste pea, which he seemed to like very much: the minders were given a big wooden plate with fresh pods that Minnikhanov was eating till reaching the tent of AB InBev Efes. An agreement on launch of an agro-industrial programme designed to improve the quality of local beer malt on the territory of the region was signed.

Interest for investments

Addressing the visitors from the stage, Minnikhanov thanked for the organisation for the event, which was really well planned, which isn’t usually possible with such a huge number of guests.

“It is really hard to be competitive without the latest technologies. We saw a tractor with autopilot, we see the latest technologies in livestock breeding. We see the work done on drought-resistant varieties of plants we need today and so on.”

Ivan Lebedev reminded that the country had set records in the agro-industrial complex for the first time in 40 years:

“Today we have high technology, created a wide range of financial support, made the agro-industrial complex of the country interesting for investments. We have serious challenges ahead linked with the presence of Russian seeds, a big job is to be done there in the selection, genetics of our animals. And a federal agricultural research and development programme through 2025 was approved on the site of the ministry.”

It is important to develop digital agriculture, Lebedev went on:” It is the system of correct industrial planning, too, the system of an effective hectare, <…> agro-logistics. Today we are saying that it is necessary to create the country’s AIP’s investment attractiveness map.” We already have pilot regions were the work began. Lebedev called Tatarstan “the prime example of how one should support agriculturists for the whole country.”