Russia and Kazakhstan are working together on potato farming issues

A meeting of the Coordinating Council for Potato Production was held in Kostanay, Kazakhstan, with the participation of representatives of Russian regions and their local colleagues. The event was attended by leading agricultural scientists, government officials and agribusiness representatives. The organizers were the Ural Federal Agrarian Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Union of Potato and Vegetable Growers of Kazakhstan with the support of the “Terra” farm and “Kazuralagro” LLP.
As Chairman of the Board of the Union Kairat Bisetayev noted, today the issue of food security is facing both countries, and its solution is in the hands of scientists and farmers. European varieties no longer provide the necessary product quality, so growing potatoes of Russian selection is more appropriate and economically justified.
Elena Shanina, Chief Researcher at the Scientific Breeding and Technology Center in the field of potato growing at the Ural Research Institute of Agricultural Sciences (Yekaterinburg), devoted her report to the development of breeding and seed production. According to the scientist, the emphasis in this work today is on the precocity of culture, suitability for mechanical harvesting and industrial processing, resistance to pathogens.
Alexander Vasiliev, a leading researcher at the UUNIISK (Chelyabinsk), spoke about the responsiveness of different varieties to balanced rates of mineral fertilizers. The topic was continued by the professor of the Kazakh Agrotechnical Research University (Astana) Vadim Khasanov, who spoke about the experience of using biotechnological methods in breeding, seed production and potato protection. And a leading researcher at the Tatar Research Institute (Kazan) Semyon Vologda conducted a retrospective review of the research conducted by the Institute.
At the end of the meeting, a trip to the farm “Terra” took place, where its participants examined the planting of Russian potato varieties. The head of the farm, Vladimir Semeykin, conducted a sightseeing tour, demonstrated washing, drying and packing lines for tubers, potato storages, sowing and harvesting equipment.