Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Akhmetov reported on preservation of seed grains for the future harvest in municipal districts

Deputy Prime Minster of the Republic of Tatarstan – Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Akhmetov reported on the state of seed growing in the Republic of Tatarstan at a session in the House of Government of the Republic of Tatarstan today. He emphasized that top quality seeds are the basis of rich harvest.

The session was held by Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Aleksey Pesoshin. Heads of Tatarstan municipal districts took part in this videoconferencing session.

Thus, according to Marat Akhmetov’s words a part of seed grains is prepared by agricultural enterprises, another part is bought at seed harms. The total need for grains and pulses is 350,000 tons. As of today, 353,000 tons have been preserved which is 101%.

“This year we have no problems with seed grains”, - said Marat Akhmetov. He also noted that the districts with 100% of seeds for sowing have a plan for timely renewal and reproduction of seed grains. The quality and quantity of seed grains influences the yield of agricultural crops.

Marat Akhmetov gave an example of Mendeleevsk municipal district, which has the poorest figures in agriculture this year.

Beside this, according to the Minister’s words in Bugulma municipal district only 30% of seeds have been inspected, in Elabuga municipal district – 42%, in Yutasy – 44%, Novosheshminskoe – 49%, Cheremshan – 51%, Pestretsy – 53%.

The minister promised to report on the measures taken in these districts during the next videoconferencing sessions.

“Next year the program on overhaul of grain storages with 30% reimbursement is launched. First of all, this program is for those farm households, which do not have favourable conditions for seed storing. Take this opportunity”, - said Marat Akhmetov.

He also noted that it was very important to preserve high seed reproduction.

The situation concerning original and elite seeds in different Tatarstan municipal districts is the following: there are 76% of such seeds in Buinsk municipal district which is the best figure, 62% - in Sarmanovo, 61% - in Tukaevo, 60% - in Atnya, 42% - in Arsk and Kukmor, 38% - in Tyulyachi.

At the same time, in Mendeleevsk municipal district there are no elite or original seeds at all, as well as there are no seed farms. In Bugulma municipal district the figure is also extremely low – 1%, in Agryz – 3%, Yutazy – 4%, Aksubaevo – 6% instead of recommended 20%.

One more important crop for the region is corn. About 300,000 ha of fields are sown with corn in the republic, a considerable part of it is cultivated for silage. The quality of seeds also influences a lot, noted Marat Akhmetov. “We have been dealing with corn cultivation for a long time already, and we have enough reliable distributors which traditionally provide us with top quality corn seeds. One can find these distributors at the web-site of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan”, - said the minister.

He also announced that on November 27-30, 2017, the agro-industrial exhibition “South-Agro” took place in Krasnodar. Marat Akhmetov recommended the representatives of large agro investing companies to attend this exhibition, factories, in order to purchase seeds without intermediate agents.