Highlights: 20+ years in potatoes, irrigation restored, in-house agri-lab (PCR/ELISA, clonal micropropagation, bioproducts), focus on domestic varieties and seed production, stable sales to national retail.
From Poultry Complex to a “Potato School”
Tsirulev’s farm grew atop the legacy of Soviet-era land reclamation: irrigation systems were launched here back in the 1970s, with table-flat fields ideal for sprinklers. After the upheavals of the 1990s, the farm pivoted to potatoes in the early 2000s and revived irrigation. In parallel came a decision to start at the true beginning—soil and starting material.
Irrigation and “Soil Intelligence”
Since 2016 the farm has run its own lab and soil mapping. Each year 1,500–2,000 ha are surveyed, building long soil histories. The team monitors P/K balance, toxic salts, carbonates, and uses sulfur-containing fertilizers as “conductors.” The approach is pragmatic: “shoot the target, not the dark”—and in practice yields are rising.
A Full-Cycle Laboratory
Three blocks:
- Diagnostics & QA: ELISA and PCR for seed potatoes (elite/super-elite); germination and vigor tests for cereals and small-seeded crops.
- Clonal micropropagation: producing virus-free starters; emphasis on IP-clear domestic varieties (lower licensing risk).
- Bioproducts & antagonists: in-house strains against Alternaria, Fusarium, Sclerotinia—a proactive “probiotic” strategy that seeds the right microbiome before outbreaks. Scale-up is done in fermenters.
Seed Production and Rotation
Beyond potatoes, the farm develops seed winter wheat and forage grasses. The structure includes several equivalent rotations, one of them a six-field seed rotation to keep soils “clean” for seed lots. Soy fits in well and doesn’t raise phytosanitary risks when agronomy is tight.
Sales Channels and Footprint
Primary channel: national retail. Since 2018 the farm has had a special contract with Magnit; daily logistics cover a wide swath of the Volga region and neighboring areas.
Succession and the Road Ahead
The younger generation dives deeper into global practice and decides with greater confidence. The core formula remains: soil → virus-free starting material → disciplined storage & logistics. Since “one can’t live on potatoes alone,” the farm diversifies seed lines and keeps strengthening its lab base.
Potatoes News takeaway: Tsirulev’s farm shows how irrigation + soil analytics + in-house biotechnology can turn a grower into a reliable supplier of quality potatoes and seed. A bet on domestic varieties and control of the entire chain—from test tube to pallet—delivers the management and predictability the market demands.
