Bryansk Region Ramps Up Potato Harvest with Expanded Acreage, Modern Storage, and Digital Variety Research
Bryansk Oblast continued its potato harvest through September 2026, with one farm in Vygonichsky District expecting to collect 36,000 tonnes — nearly 1.3 times more than in 2025. A key piece of infrastructure is the “Sosnovka” potato storage facility with a capacity of 41,000 tonnes, equipped with active ventilation systems from Russian and Belarusian manufacturers. By mid-September, 41% of the region’s potato area had been harvested, with an average yield of 32.1 tonnes per hectare, rising to as high as 70 tonnes per hectare on some farms. More than 37,000 hectares are devoted to the crop across the region, and total storage capacity exceeds 750,000 tonnes. Earlier in August, officials reported that potato acreage had been increased by 2,200 hectares in 2026, with harvesting underway in 16 districts and the highest yields recorded in Rognedinsky, Klimovsky, and Starodubsky districts.
On the research side, scientists at Bryansk State Agrarian University moved from field trials to laboratory analysis in late September as part of efforts to create a digital database of disease-resistant potato varieties. Researchers are assessing tuber damage from late blight, common scab, and rhizoctonia to identify resistant breeding lines for future selection work. Meanwhile, Rosselkhoznadzor conducted phytosanitary monitoring across more than 10,000 hectares in eight districts, collecting over 2,000 samples — laboratory tests found no quarantine objects. However, isolated outbreaks of potato wart remain in Zhiryatinsky District (villages Vorobeynya, Kulnevo, and Kolodnya) across a total area of 2.65 hectares.
