Kostanai vegetable growers cannot sell potatoes

Farmers in Kostanai region claim that there is no decent price for potatoes, and the products sit idle in warehouses, World of NAN reports with reference to inform.kz.

Due to the complications with harvesting, the cost of potatoes has become high, on top of which potatoes have been imported from Russia, which are many times cheaper.

"We see no prospects for our own development in potato production. Harvesting was hard, additional costs were incurred, and therefore the cost of production was high. We hoped that we would be able to cover the costs, but as it happened, there were a lot of cheap potatoes imported from Russia, sometimes of low quality, so local producers were forced out of the market," said Vladimir Semekin, head of the farm "Terra".

According to vegetable growers, they are now forced to sell potatoes to the public for 20-30 KZT below the cost price, which is 83 KZT. They sell the vegetable to other regions at 60 tenge per kilogram, and the western regions of the country don't want to buy it at 50 tenge because they are offered cheaper goods from Russia.

" An analysis of volumes and markets, exports and other components is needed. Right now there is no such thing. Vegetable growers are forced to solve their problems on their own. Many of them are already on the verge of ruin, and the Ministry of Agriculture plans to increase the area of Kostanai region alone by 1 thousand hectares", - emphasized V. Semeikin.

Vegetable growers appealed to the Akim of the region, with a request to consider options to support the industry, including prolongation of contracts on the Stabilization Fund, as well as faster repayment of debts on subsidies, so that vegetable growers would have funds for the sowing season.

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