Sergey Zvolsky, Director of Astyk-STEM LLP, North Kazakhstan region, Republic of Kazakhstan:
In our farm, potatoes were planted on only five hectares in 2005, but today it already occupies 500. In total, we cultivate 14 crops, primarily cereals, for which 15,000 hectares are allocated, as well as sunflower, corn, peas, carrots and others.
When it became clear that moisture was the limiting factor for us, we drilled several wells, found water and organized a full-fledged watering of the plants. Last year, from 220 hectares of drip irrigation, we took 57 tons of potatoes per hectare. A little more than 32 tons per hectare were collected on the fields where the center pivot sprinklers worked. But there the water came from a stream that had become very shallow lately. Today, growing potatoes without irrigation does not make sense. Those Kazakh farmers who try to work on rainfed land are struggling to make ends meet.
We import seed material, as well as fertilizers, from Western Europe. It doesn’t come cheap, but you always need a good investment to get great results.
The farm is focused on the use of Western-made agricultural machinery, and the most important indicator for us is its reliability. The first tractor was from Fendt, then Valtra appeared, and now John Deere is a priority. We took the path of applying advanced technologies, for example, we bought a tractor with artificial intelligence, which is even able to calculate the salaries of drivers.
In the first two years, there were no diseases on the potato, but over time, the soil became infected with bacteria, fungi, and viruses. We work on late blight and rhizoctoniosis 7-8 times per season. We use drugs from manufacturers that have earned our trust, one of them is Syngenta. But there are practically no pests here, neither the Colorado potato beetle, nor the Siberian shpanka.
The total capacity of our vegetable store is more than 20 thousand tons, and the refrigerator is designed for 1.5 thousand tons of products. During harvesting, up to a thousand tons of potatoes are dug up per day, which are sent for storage.
LLP “Astyk-STEM” focuses on the production of high-quality agricultural products at its optimal cost. But when we consider that there is no more room for development, we can spend time processing the same vegetables. Today, due to the unpredictability of the market, we are not ready for this.
Sales of products have been established for a long time, there is a list of traders with whom we cooperate on an ongoing basis. The main deliveries go to large cities: Astana and Almaty. We strive to grow elite, branded potatoes, there is always a demand for it, and we have no serious problems with the sale.
The local market is still far from civilized, hence the constant disturbances in the balance of supply and demand, sharp falls and rises in prices. Our economy is trying to deal with those crops that are in demand and will always find their consumer. I think we will not stop at 500 hectares of potatoes, we will definitely go further. We have everything for this: experience, knowledge, qualified personnel and a desire to develop.
