Our trip to the Osakarovsky district took place during Kuralai, the time when saigas breed their offspring. During this period, calm and warm weather abruptly changes to cold, rainy and very windy. Pavel Vasilyevich Lushchak, head of Naydorovskoye LLP, warned us about this, but we decided to go anyway. The farm has existed since 2000 and is today one of the leading enterprises in the region. Pavel is engaged in the production of feed, grains, legumes and oilseeds. Last year, his farm decided to plant potatoes, although this is not encouraged in the region due to the characteristics of the soil. But Pavel decided to plant 70 hectares of potatoes to begin with. The harvest was a success thanks to the mapping of fields and yields. “The vegetable storage facility had to be built on the fly,” says Pavel. “We were harvesting in September and the construction of the storage facility was immediately underway.” Then he decided to take a loan from the Agrarian Credit Corporation through CT Sarybel, the best credit partnership not only in the region, but also in the republic. 319 million tenge was received to complete the construction of the vegetable storage facility. Now the vegetable storage facility holds 3,000 tons of potatoes. Next year Pavel expects to fill it completely. The vegetable storage facility has German-made Grimme equipment; now the potatoes are being distributed into seed potatoes and those that will go to supermarkets for consumers. “In Europe, people prefer small potatoes, the ones that they will never buy from us. In Kazakhstan they like large potatoes, although small ones are healthier,” says Pavel. Potatoes from the rural hinterland will be supplied not only to the country’s domestic market, but also for export. More than 50 people work at the warehouse. In winter, the vegetable storehouse is heated with straw - flax waste, and straw miracle stoves from Europe are installed. The advantage is not only in saving money, but also in the environmental factor, because there is practically no ash from the straw, it smells light, clean and pleasantly smoky. Next year Pavel plans to try his hand at organic farming and build additional sections for vegetable storage. After lunch in the farm's canteen, where everything was sparkling clean, we appreciated the local potatoes. It really turned out to be tasty and crumbly. Our next destination is the Saltanat peasant farm. Wait for reports.
