Your own tomatoes all year round
Greenhouses are being reconstructed in the Mogilev district
The head of state has repeatedly drawn the attention of the leaders of the agro-industrial complex to the fact that in the off-season cucumbers and tomatoes are imported into our country from abroad, the prices for them in stores are unbearable. And this is no good, because we know how to do everything ourselves. The President instructed farmers to solve the problem of growing fruit and vegetable products in the off-season in the near future in order to feed the people with Belarusian greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers at affordable prices in winter and spring.
So far, we have practically not grown vegetables in the winter months, but the problem can be solved: in order to switch to new technologies, it is necessary to modernize greenhouses.
In the Mogilev region, a decision was made to reconstruct the greenhouse complex of Kadino Firm OJSC, which will allow the task to be completed. According to the traditional technology, the collection of tomatoes in greenhouses begins in late April (for example, in 2023, the first crop was harvested in Kadino on April 20) and ends in October - early November. And from next year, they will start harvesting in the off-season, which is the peak of the import of foreign fruits and vegetables into our country.
Tomatoes will be harvested in the greenhouses of agricultural enterprises from October to early June, and in the summer months they will be engaged in growing seedlings. So Belarusian tomatoes can be bought in winter at attractive prices.
The head of the greenhouse complex, Igor Timoshchenko, spoke about the new technology:
“We will install additional lamps in the greenhouses, which, in simple terms, will replace the sun for plants. Illumination will have a positive effect on their growth. This technology has never been used before.
Institute "Mogilevgrazhdanproekt" is preparing design estimates for the upcoming reconstruction, negotiations are underway with a potential general contractor.
According to the pre-project documentation, which can be adjusted in the future, about 8500-9000 lamps will be required for 3 hectares of glass energy-saving greenhouses on the farm. Of course, it is expensive, energy-intensive, but it is likely that electricity costs will be reduced, the issue was discussed in the Government.
Six months are allotted for the reconstruction of greenhouses at Firma Kadino OJSC. The economy is confident that they will meet the schedule. In the last days of October, when the last harvest is harvested, the design and estimate documentation should already be prepared. Then the procedure for purchasing materials, services and equipment will begin. In December, the installation work will begin directly, which is planned to be completed by May 2024. In July, seeds will be sown, from which plants will fully mature in 90 days. And in October next year, the first products using the new technology will be received.
From October 2024, lighting will also begin in greenhouses. At first, not at full capacity: the technology provides for the stepwise switching on of lamps. For example, by 25 or 50 percent, depending on the length of the daylight hours, whether it is sunny or cloudy outside.
And it does not matter that now in the warm season Kadino will no longer pick tomatoes and deliver them to stores - other farms, including farms, will successfully cope with this task. They will have to fill the domestic market with juicy goods in the summer months, when tomatoes can be safely grown in film greenhouses.
And the company "Kadino" plans to grow 1600 tons of tomatoes per year using the new technology. The head of the greenhouse plant, Igor Timoshchenko, is sure that this task is quite feasible.
The management keeps the issue of the reconstruction of greenhouses under control. Oleg Chikida , Chairman of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee, regularly visits the agricultural enterprise.
“Modernization of greenhouse production will allow us to get away from imports as much as possible and in the winter period to receive the volume of products that is necessary for domestic consumption,” he is sure.
