Tomsk region completes preparations for the sowing campaign

Agrarians of the Tomsk region this year plan to increase grain crops by 6.3%. The total sown area in the region is projected to be 335.5 thousand hectares.
In autumn, for the 2022 harvest, the farms sowed 15.2 thousand hectares of winter crops, prepared 141.8 thousand hectares of fallow land, and purchased an additional 4 thousand tons of seeds of higher reproductions for variety change and variety renewal.
In autumn and winter, enterprises took 387.2 thousand tons of organic fertilizers to the fields. A major contribution to this work was provided by two projects for the processing and application of bird droppings and pig manure as a fertilizer, which are being implemented on the basis of the Sibagro holding and the Mezheninovskaya agricultural company.
Agricultural producers of the region purchased 27.5 thousand tons of mineral fertilizers, 19.9 thousand tons of which (a third more than last year on the same date) have already been delivered to farms. This year, the state-owned company TomskAgroInvest has become the main supplier of mineral fertilizers, which has significantly simplified their purchase for small businesses and farmers who find it difficult to get a bank loan.
“Spring is expected to be warm - plus 3 degrees to the long-term average temperature, which requires high rates of preparation for the sowing season,” said Andrey Knorr, Deputy Governor of the Tomsk Region for Agro-Industrial Policy and Environmental Management. – The process is not without difficulties, but we have every opportunity to carry out a full cycle of spring field work without disruption and lay a solid foundation for the future harvest. The accumulated experience and material production base allow us to calmly enter the new agricultural year.”
The readiness of equipment in Tomsk farms is high: the tractor fleet is 89% ready for work, sowing complexes - 80%, seeders and tillage units - 85%.
“The Russian government has already taken a number of measures aimed at ensuring the country's food security and will help not only protect the domestic market, but also promote the further development of agriculture,” said Andrey Knorr. – In particular, a decision was made to increase the allocated funds fivefold for concessional short-term lending to the agro-industrial complex. Since January, the quota of the Tomsk region for subsidizing lending has been increased from 7 to 148 million rubles, which will allow us to attract about a billion rubles to the industry. It became possible to defer the repayment of a preferential investment loan if it expires in 2022, and funds were allocated to subsidize the transportation of fertilizers and grain. Many of the measures taken were in response to our requests sent by Governor Sergei Zhvachkin to the government.”