"We work in two turns." We visited greenhouses near Minsk, where cucumbers are grown all year round

News on the topic "The welfare of the people is the task of each and every one." These words of President ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO form the basis of the development strategy of the Zhdanovichi agro-industrial complex - a state agricultural enterprise whose production and economic achievements are of consistently high interest to many agricultural producers. The annual growth in the volume and quality of the products grown here proves that the team is doing everything right.
Vegetable capital Following in the wake of state interests, the team of UP "Agrokombinat Zhdanovichi" achieved noticeable results based on the results of work for 2024 in almost all sectors of the agricultural sector. In particular, the enterprise increased MILK production to 22395.4 tons (+384 tons compared to 2023). Milk yield per cow also increased and amounted to 7323 kg (+22 kg). Plant growers also worked hard. Grain harvest in 2024 amounted to 31677.2 tons (in 2023 - 26104.5 tons) with a yield of 55.5 c/ha (in 2023 - 38 c/ha). Grain corn was also successful: 30833.8 tons (in 2023 - 22230.1 tons) with a yield of 114.6 c/ha (in 2023 - 82.6 c/ha). Rapeseed pleased: 5668.5 tons (in 2023 - 5231.3 tons) with a yield of 38.7 c/ha (in 2023 - 34.9 c/ha). More silage, hay and haylage were harvested: 41.5 c/ha units per conventional HEAD (in 2023 - 33.1 c/ha units). SUGAR beet was grown 66723 tons (in 2023 - 59159 tons) with a yield of 667.1 c/ha (in 2023 - 591.6 c/ha). One of the main achievements of the agro-industrial complex is the greenhouse farm. In 2007, the Bogatyrevo greenhouse, owned by the Zhdanovichi agro-industrial complex.  This has become an important incentive for the farm workers. Over the past years, the greenhouse complex, using the most advanced Dutch vegetable growing technologies, has put hundreds of tons of cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables on the tables of Belarusians. The high quality of greenhouse vegetables, which the enterprise pleases with all year round and especially in the off-season, has brought the agro-industrial complex recognition from consumers. People call "Zhdanovichi" the vegetable capital of the country! And this is no coincidence. In 2024, 11,781.5 tons of greenhouse vegetables were delivered to trade (+1,609.6 tons compared to 2023). Including cucumbers - 3,406.3 tons (in 2023 - 2,828 tons), tomatoes - 8,284 tons (in 2023 - 6,794 tons). Oh, Donna Rosa! And here we are in the rose garden. The atmosphere is completely different, but the mood is the same - joyful. The beauty is indescribable, the aroma is most delicate: this is probably what paradise looks like. - Shangrila, Red Naomi, Jumilia, Rubella... Each bush is connected to a drip, through which a nutrient solution is supplied, in doses,via computer,











- Leading agronomist Diana Grishkina continues to lead the tour along the flower bushes, describing the charms and sophistication of each of the 11 varieties of roses. - A wide range for every taste and color. The choice is good. We pick up to 215 roses from a bush per year - more than 600 thousand were sold in 2024. Usually we cut more by the weekend so that the rose has time to stand in the refrigerator for 24 hours before selling, to be nourished. This is necessary so that it is fresh and beautiful longer. Most of the flowers that you see here will go on sale by March 8.
Who is lucky to work in such beauty? Also women - they are the best flower growers in the production of protected ground products. Among them are Svetlana Chumakova, Marina Staselovich, Tatyana Gurina.

And where can you buy such beautiful roses by March 8 (and on other days of the year)?
- We will sell only through branded stores, of which we have four: in MINSK on ul. Briketa, 22; on the territory of the greenhouse complex "Bogatyrevo"; in branded outlets in the villages of Yarkovo and Tabory. We also sell our products of the greenhouse complex there. We also supply cucumbers and tomatoes to the stores of the capital's retail chains, - noted Olga Lungu, head of the sales department of the UP "Agrokombinat Zhdanovichi".
In the branded stores of the agrokombinat and on the shelves of retail chains, you can also buy products of the Zhdanovichi agrokombinat's own processing. Having in the structurepig complex , the enterprise has established the production of a wide range of smoked, dried, boiled sausages, as well as liver sausages based on ancient Belarusian recipes. No chemicals, only natural spices!

- You can add a three-liter package of directly squeezed APPLE juice to your purchases. It is sugar-free. And made from the fruits of our own garden, - Olga Lungu advised at the end of the meeting.
All year round, in two turns
Last week, the journalists of the publication visited "Bogatyrevo", which, as a result of the modernization of production facilities, turned into a modern greenhouse complex using supplementary lighting technologies - the autumn-winter period in Belarus does not often please people and greenhouse plants with sunshine. Today, vegetables and roses are grown here.

The greenhouse with cucumber inflorescences reaching upwards seemed to the journalists a real oasis: humidity 75%, air temperature - a comfortable +23 degrees. Vegetable growers working at heights twist the plants reaching for the sky. The workers in the lower row pick cucumbers and put them in boxes on a cart that easily rolls between the rows. In total, three teams of vegetable growers - 130 people - work on the greenhouse vegetable plantations. Mostly, of course, women. Among those who set an example of conscientious, highly productive work are vegetable growers of protected ground production Elena Lakhnova, Svetlana Achas and others.
- We grow vegetables all year round, in two turns, - says our guide to the greenhouse farming Diana Grishkina , a leading agronomist of protected ground production. - In the spring and autumn, we supply the shelves with smooth, medium-fruited cucumbers of Dutch selection "Meva", the stem of which grows up to 16-18 meters in length during the season! If the days are cloudy and foggy, we illuminate the cucumbers for almost 20 hours a day, which allows them to gain weight, strength and taste. The plant is given four hours to "sleep". Short-fruited cucumbers have been ripening in the greenhouses since May.
Since the tomatoes of this greenhouse farm have only just set - the sowing was in December - they decided to put the tomato theme aside and went to assess the readiness of the rose plantation for March 8, which turned out to be literally two steps away from cucumber abundance.
Tamara MARKINA,
photo Tatyana MATUSEVICH