Last year, three hectares, this year – already nine. Novgorod farmer Sergei Kovalev proves by his own example that it is possible to grow strawberries here, in the North-West. It has already been appreciated in St. Petersburg and Tver, the governor Andrey Nikitin also tasted the summer berry.
Malga, Krapa, Albion. These are just some of the varieties that farmer Sergei Kovalev grows in huge greenhouses. Once in his homeland, in the Donbass, he was engaged in woodworking, by chance he moved here and … began to grow strawberries. When asked how the idea came to take the risk of doing the berry business here, in the zone of risky farming, he answers – he decided to take an example from his neighbors.
Planting material, and these are 28 varieties, were bought in Europe, however, most of them did not take root in our climate. But the rest give an excellent harvest. Last year, the Kovalev family collected more than 17 tons. In this, taking into account the expansion of planting areas from 3 to 9 hectares, they expect to collect even more. State support helped create a farm from scratch – a grant of 3 million rubles. With this money, greenhouses were welded, planting material and a drip irrigation system were bought.
The Kovalevs preferred not to deal with early strawberries, this niche was long and firmly occupied by Krasnodar, Turkey and Serbia. Ours have relied on the varieties of the so-called “light day”, in this case, it is possible to harvest several crops during the season, and everything is in order with the sales market. 50% of all strawberries today are sent to the shelves of Novgorod stores, the rest to Tver and St. Petersburg. The cost of a kilogram is 280 rubles, the wholesale price is 350. By the way, for 2 years of work, the farmer managed not only to expand agricultural holdings, but also to invent his own way of growing seedlings.
The difference is 150 grams per bush, and now multiply by the number of bushes – there are 50 thousand of them in 1 hectare and calculate the yield. Now the first harvest is being harvested on the Kovalev farm, and here it is, berry by berry, and I just want to try it. Not surprisingly, Andrei Nikitin could not resist. At first I tasted it myself, and then I bought it at home to enjoy it.
