How to grow eco-friendly products, and how it differs from the usual, correspondent mill.BY found out in organic farming "Mońki" Volozhin district.

moneymaker

According to the Center for Environmental Solutions, at 2019 year in Belarus in organic production, received certificates, reached 27. Among them is the farm "Mońki", which is created from scratch a former businessman Valery Gorovtsov. He graduated MRTI (Now BSUIR) with the intention to dedicate his life to computers. He worked in the Research Institute of Computer and known throughout the Soviet scientific and educational center "Algorithm". In 1990, an undertaking, where Valery worked, closed. I had to engage in trade: I drove tiles from abroad, well earned. Acquainted with the microbiologist Eugene Kozlov and Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Korney Dovban, at 55 years Valery decided to radically change the type of activity and created his own organic farm.

On the way, interested, It proved how beneficial such an investment.

- The benefits of environmentally friendly products is a huge - it's the nation's health, - Valery says.

The substantial monetary profit from the cultivation of plants without nitrates, It turned out, the farmer does not receive. Produce products without chemical fertilizers - more complex and costly affair compared to produce products based on traditional agricultural practices. Yes and certification, confirming the organic origin of harvest, - the procedure is complicated and expensive.

- To obtain such a certificate, you must completely abandon any synthetic drugs: chemical fertilizers, herbicides and other, - explains Valery Gorovtsov. - Then a special commission carefully monitors, no matter in plants, there were no harmful substances in the soil. Specialists can come at any time and check your building for chemical fertilizers or unaccounted for crops. I received the certificate only four years after, How to contact the appropriate company. At the same time it had to pay annually 250 euro. Now the Lithuanian company, which I tested, for confirmation of the certificate request 450 euro.

In the European Union, farmers are willing to pay that kind of money, because the certified eco-products is much more expensive, than grown with nitrates. Plus for those farms they exist public subsidies. For our own business is quite a large amount, In addition, the certificate, in fact, yet no privileges in Belarus does not give.

- Unfortunately, in our stores - with a few exceptions - not really check the origin of the organic products. So, the word "eco" can sell anything. As a result, the "clean" products are on the same shelf with the, that are produced with the use of chemicals. A buyer sees only the difference in price. She, naturally, higher in organic cereals, vegetables and fruits, as the higher costs of their production, - explains Valery Gorovtsov.

Farmer with interest expects completion ekorynka near Minsk. He hopes, that this trading platform will be more careful approach to the verification of the origin of organic products. And then Belarusians get really high-quality product, and the owners of small farms - protection against hardened marketers, who sells goods in a beautiful package with a great name "eco", "was", «Organic», although their products are not at all. They also plan to make a small platform for organic products in the territory of the former Horizont plant..

History of the farm

In spite of difficulties, Valery continues to do what he loves. With enthusiasm, he shows me his possessions and talks about, how it all began:

- ... I was given a couple of hectares of land - a forest overgrown with grass, on which horses grazed. In the 2000s, the capital just got rid of kiosks at stops. I got a couple of these for free. Moved them here to store garden equipment.

Kiosks still stand on the farm. A sawmill was erected next to one of them.. An old woodworking machine saved a lot of money for a former businessman: logs are three times cheaper, than boards. Gradually, a vegetable storehouse made of bricks appeared on the farm, canteen, bathroom, barn - made of wood.

Now the total farm area is 49 Mrs. Buckwheat is grown here., perennial herbs, barley, oat, rye, triticale.

Interested in, how a farmer fights weeds and what he uses instead of chemical fertilizers.

- Weeds are removed mechanically, I just spend more time preparing the soil. Loose-fill it with a trailer disker. The best fertilizer for small beds, in my opinion, - nettle. mow it, zakladыvayu in barrels, pour water, I add a little bit of ash, and a couple of liters of microbiological preparation, Belarusian scientists developed Evgeny Kozlov. On the sidelines of the microorganisms employed in combination with crop residues. On the advice of the brilliant biochemist I grow a vegetable store in the basement of microorganisms in liquid media and the use in the manufacture of the drug, - says the farmer.

According to Valery Gorovtsova, to seriously engage in organic farming, It is necessary to have good equipment, not only for growing plants, but also for their treatment. In the arsenal of the farmer's own processor, a few tractors and a variety of attachments to them. All of this he acquired gradually, and often b / a. The oldest of his tractor - "Vladimirets" 1977 Year of release.

Also, the farm has its own apiary, goats, chickens and turkeys.

- I was offered and certify, selling honey, milk and meat as an organic product, but i don't want yet: enough paperwork with plants, - says the farmer.

He plans to create a training center on the basis of the farm, where children and adults from different cities of Belarus could come and in practice study organic farming.

- I would like to, so that organic farms have received certain preferences from the state, it would have a positive impact not only on organic farming, but also on the development of rural tourism in our country, - the farmer says.

Additionally

Belarus has its own research and development, and even experimental sites. Back in the 2000s engaged in the development of this direction Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Belarusian State University Roots Dovban. The scientist is not only prepared a theoretical base, I wrote several thematic guides, but also, perhaps, the first organic harvest gathered in our country. He turned out to grow potatoes, buckwheat, millet on a trial site in Zhodino and place on the international organic products certified. Korney Dovbana book "The transition from the traditional to the bio-organic farming in the Republic of Belarus" has become a textbook for many organic farmers in our country. Plus is now in Minsk acts "Organic School" at the Center for Environmental Solutions, in which they teach soil cultivation technologies, Protection of plants against pests and diseases, ecological methods of cultivation of plants and animals, as well as the economic fundamentals of business.

Evgeny Oleinik for млын.by. photo by the author