In the Lezhnevsky district of the Ivanovo region, thanks to government support, black currant berry plantations were established

On the family farm of Alexander Potapov in the Lezhnevsky district, a black currant berry garden has been established on an area of ​​17.5 hectares. The project was implemented thanks to the Agrostartup grant, which the farmer received in 2022. With the funds received, the farmer purchased blackcurrant seedlings, an irrigation system and agricultural equipment.
As part of a working trip to the Lezhnevsky district on June 10, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Ivanovo Region Denis Cherkesov visited the fruit and berry farm of Alexander Potapov, inspected the berry plantations and discussed plans for production development.
“Agrostartup grants have been provided to beginning farmers within the framework of the national project “Small and Medium Enterprises and Support for Individual Entrepreneurial Initiatives” since 2019. Farmers whose enterprises were registered in the year they received the grant can apply for support. In 2024 , grant support for Agrostartup in the Ivanovo region more than doubled compared to last year and amounted to 78.2 million rubles,” said the deputy chairman.
Let us remind you that according to the results of the competitive selection in 2024, 22 beginning farmers will receive financial assistance for the implementation of their projects; the amount of grants will range from 1.5 to 5.6 million rubles.
As Alexander Potapov said, the first currant seedlings were planted on the farm in 2022 after receiving a grant. The following year, the berry plantations were expanded; now the planting area is 17.5 hectares. This year we completed the installation of an automatic drip irrigation system.
“We plan to get the first good harvest next year, and the maximum harvest in three years. We will collect berries mechanically, using a special combine. We will hand over the collected berries to Ivanovo producers for processing,” said the farmer.
Now the farm is actively developing new lands and plans to increase the area under berry plantations to 30 hectares.
In 2023, a farmer from the Lezhnevsky district was provided with a subsidy of more than 760 thousand rubles for planting 2.4 hectares of perennial blackcurrant plantings. In 2024, the entrepreneur will apply for subsidies for another 7.1 hectares of currants.
It should be noted that the funds of the Agrostartup grant can be spent by recipients on the purchase of machinery and equipment, farm animals, poultry and fish planting material, land for farming, planting material for planting perennial plantings, for the development of project documentation, construction and repair of production and storage facilities, and also for connecting production facilities to the infrastructure. In addition, part of the grant funds can be contributed to the indivisible fund of the agricultural consumer cooperative and used to repay the principal debt on loans. A mandatory condition for granting a grant is that the farmer invests at least 10% of his own funds in the implementation of the project.