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Despite the dry year, the harvest of the second bread here is good.
As the chief agronomist of the enterprise, Dmitry Kovalenko, said, this year, as in the previous one, potatoes are harvested by their own efforts. Since the end of August, a potato harvester operated by tractor driver-machinist Alexander Terentyev has been working in the урочище with the Manifest potato variety. Two units of equipment are involved in transporting the harvest. The tubers are sent to their own potato storage, where they undergo initial cleaning, and then for 14-20 days they are conditioned and cooled in a chamber. After the vegetable's skin hardens and the eyes close, sorting will begin.
Tractor driver-machinist Dmitry Bulokhov and Dmitry Kovalenko are satisfied with the Manifest harvest. It is precisely the Manifest, according to Dmitry Kovalenko, that has proven to be the most productive in the current extreme weather conditions and quite resistant to drought. Of the 42 hectares allocated for the second bread this year, this table variety of potato, which is ideal for frying and boiling, occupies exactly half, which is due to its high demand among the population. An average of 30 tons of tubers are harvested per hectare. Potato pancakes made from Manifest do not darken for up to 6 hours – tested by housewives!
Seed material of domestic selection varieties such as Breeze and Skarb is also in demand by buyers. On average, up to 300 tons of potatoes are sold to the population annually. The rest of the products are bought by agricultural organizations, farmers, catering establishments, and educational institutions for their own needs.
A total of 11 varieties of Belarusian-bred potatoes are cultivated at the Vitebsk Zonal Institute, in 7 reproductions.
Three new varieties are also being prepared for sale. Umka and Garantiya are awaiting their time in the institute's greenhouse complex, while the early-maturing Mastak is in the preliminary propagation nursery. The Zonal Institute will be one of the first to market it in Belarus. This is planned for 2024. This autumn, the enterprise will sell Lel potatoes, which are ideal for making chips and French fries. This is a kind of domestic response to foreign analogues.
As noted by the Scientific Secretary of the Vitebsk Zonal Institute, Oleg Ravbis, employees are continuing other, no less useful experiments. Two varieties of purple potatoes, created specifically for therapeutic dietary nutrition and successfully presented during the traditional spring tasting, are currently undergoing the necessary trials.
– It's good that the weather has absolutely no effect on the planting material of our greenhouse complex. Everything here depends solely on the human factor, timely and quality care for the plants, and we have no issues with this at the enterprise, – says Oleg Ravbis.
Harvest, preserve, process, and sell – these are the tasks set for the team regarding the "second bread" by the head of the Vitebsk Zonal Institute, Andrey Balysh.
In parallel with potato harvesting, the enterprise is sowing winter crops and preparing the soil for them. Approximately 400 hectares of winter wheat, barley, rye, and triticale are yet to be sown, while the sowing of winter rapeseed has been completed within optimal deadlines. Very soon, the institute's fields will begin harvesting buckwheat. The climatic conditions in the Vitebsk region allow for its harvesting at the end of September – beginning of October. By this time, scientists are confident, buckwheat will have reached the necessary maturity.
In addition, the enterprise's agrarians are selectively harvesting spring rapeseed; as this crop matures, machinery is deployed to the fields. This work is planned to be fully completed by September 15.