Berry season is in full swing. In the Grodno region, blueberries, cherries, blueberries, red and black currants are actively purchased from the population. This year, there are 30 receiving points and 51 procurers in the region. Together with berries, vegetables are purchased from the population and farms. For example, since the beginning of the year, the branches of the regional consumer society have purchased 425 tons of cucumbers, 256 tons of tomatoes, 700 tons of cabbage, 52 tons of garden strawberries, 91 tons of blueberries and other products. BelTA correspondents visited the procurement centers of the region.
In Slonim, at the procurement point in the morning, it is quite crowded. After the weekend, the locals bring here the harvest harvested in the forest. “There are enough blueberries this year, but it feels a little less than last year. My family and I, four of us, sometimes three of us, go for berries. Over the weekend, we managed to collect 60 kg. of course, heavy,” says Irina, a resident of the regional center.
Among regular customers there are those who bring hundreds of kilograms of berries. During weighing, the radiation background of the forest crop is checked. By the way, blueberries in the Slonim branch of the regional consumer society are sent for freezing in order to later send the berries for export to Russia. “We put the blueberries we originally received in a refrigerator for cooling so that they do not stick together and are crumbly. A day later – in the freezer. It stays at a temperature of minus 32 degrees for three days. After completely freezing the berries, we pack them in bags of 25 kg, and then blueberries are exported. If our companies have a need, we also cooperate,” said Anna Saleiko, head of the procurement and production sector of the Slonim branch of the Grodno Regional Consumer Society.
At the same time, a new crop of vegetables is accepted here. The Stanzel family brought potatoes from their plot. Lyudmila says that their land is good and retirement has allowed them to be more active in growing their products. “We have a private house, our own equipment. We grow garlic, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, currants, strawberries for ourselves. We always have everything on our table. And for sale we grow potatoes, and also wheat. We choose high-quality varieties,” says woman.
“We were taught to work from childhood. Then it was a necessity. Now we work for our own pleasure.
Berestovitsa resident Dmitry Savitsky also brought berries from his plot. “This year we have a good harvest of cherries, we harvested enough, that’s all from four trees. We left the berries for ourselves for compotes, we decided to hand over the rest. We rent the surplus all the time, from year to year,” the man says.
The procurement point in Berestovitsa also accepts vegetables. “We have already purchased 23 tons of cucumbers, 13 tons of tomatoes, 33 tons of cabbage, 13 tons of potatoes, 6 tons of garden strawberries, 4 tons of cherries and 14 tons of blueberries. In addition, the branch buys onions, beets, carrots, garlic, black currants and red, cultivated blueberries and other products,” says Tatyana Khilyuta, deputy director of the Berestovitsky branch of the Grodno regional consumer society.
By the way, you can hand over the harvested crop in Grodno itself, for example, in the central market. After the examination, the products immediately go to one of the counters, near which there are always people. “You don’t have time to let go of some buyers, people again appear. The products are in demand. There are regular customers. We keep something on the counter, something in the refrigerator, as required by the regulations. For convenience, the trading place is equipped with a bank terminal,” says salesperson Oksana Grechikhin.
“Blueberries are now actively brought from 10 kg to 200-300 kg. Cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, dill, onions, potatoes are brought from farms. They are brought both from the Grodno region and the Brest region,” says Nikolai Zhivotkevich, director of the Central Market of the Grodno Regional Consumer Society. “Last year, the harvest was worse for blueberries. At this time, only one ton was harvested, and now it’s already two. Strawberries also worked better: last year, 10 tons were harvested, this year – more than 13 tons. Cucumbers – more than 8 tons have already been harvested, the pace is there compared to last year.
