Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Cucumbers and tomatoes in Cherkasy oblast - from modern production technologies to grading and marketing
As it was planned before, on the 9th of August 2005 Cherkasy office of the Agricultural Marketing Project conducted the Field day "Marketing, modern technologies of cucumber and tomato production" in Akra farm, village Melniki, Chernobayvskiy rayon, Cherkasy oblast. In total 134 persons participated in the seminar, among which there were farmers, the representatives of seed companies, Cherkasy supermarkets, Kyiv vegetable factory, the companies - suppliers of plant protection assets, containers, mass media representatives.
During the Field day the modern technologies of cucumber and tomato production in the open ground and new sales channels were introduced to the participants. All the interested could see twenty two varieties and hybrids of tomato and 4 cucumber hybrids of different terms of planting, produced on trellis applying drip irrigation. As the people studied the plantings, the Head of Akra farm commented the application of modern cucumber and tomato production technologies, the systems of protection and feeding, and the new sales channels.
The participants were very interested to see the calibrating line which grades cucumbers per fractions just on Akra farm field according to the requirements of the processing enterprises. The The line let the producers decrease significantly the labor expenses and time for the grading process, and improve its quality at the same time; the processing enterprises readily purchase the produce graded on this line.
Besides, all the present farmers had the opportunity to communicate informally after the plenary meeting and on the demosite; they established contacts and consulted with the representatives of the input supply companies, processing enterprises, retail and wholesale companies.
It is important to mention that the Agricultural Marketing Project deliberately selected Akra farm for the Field day organization. Alexander Fedorovich Kravchenko, the Head of this farm, was among the first in the oblast to cooperate with the Agricultural Marketing Project. Due to his organizational skills, the analytical thinking of an engineer, the farmer is constantly studying the world experience in vegetable production, maintaining relations with the seed companies, the suppliers of drip irrigation systems and plant protection assets. Only three years have passed since the moment Mr. Alexander organized his vegetable producing farm, but he was always keen on it. That is why Mr. Kravchenko is known as one of the most successful farmers-vegetable producers in the central region of Ukraine. For example, this year the majority of farmers and agricultural producers in the central oblasts of Ukraine lost practically all planting because they have not protected cucumbers from pests and diseases; Mr. Kravchenko is harvesting now the significant volumes of a good quality cucumber.
During the first year of activity Mr. Kravchenko produced tomatoes on 18 ha without irrigation; in 2004 - on 33 ha, including 10 ha under drip irrigation. Taking into account the market needs, this year the farm extends vegetable assortment and continues improving the production technology. In particular, tomatoes on 12 ha have been already produced from the seedlings supplied by Kyiv vegetable factory, and 6 ha, as a year before, were planted by the seeds sowed by the precision drill.
Cucumber is also produced on trellis from the seedlings supplied by Kyiv vegetable factory; in total about 20 km of trellis are set for cucumber production. Tomato, cucumber and partially cabbage are grown applying drip irrigation on the area of 30 ha. The complete vegetable assortment and the volumes of the future harvest are negotiated with the potential buyers by the farm head beforehand, in autumn. He has been cooperating with Veres company group and other processing enterprises and wholesale companies for the second year already. This year the farmer contracted around 800 tons of vegetables. So, Mr. Kravchenko relies on the long-term partner relations with the purchasers. These days the intensive harvesting and shipment of vegetables for processing are in progress.