The minister urged laying in and buying feed in any Russian regions and at any price, to save the Tatarstan’s livestock.

(Kazan, July 28, Tatar-inform, Irina Ignatieva). Tatarstan deputy prime minister, agriculture minister Marat Akhmetov held a phone conference with rural regions, during which he urged stocking and buying feed in any regions in Russia and at any price, to save the cattle in Tatarstan.

The minster was indignant at the pace of laying in fodder. In the 14 days since the previous phone conference, feed has been stocked for one winter month. The stock is only sufficient to last until the end of the year. In his words, specialists at the Agriculture Ministry daily monitor the fodder situation regardless of where fodder comes from.

Tatarstan has set up 110 mobile teams laying in fodder outside the republic. Vamin Tatarstan, the minister said, operates the most efficiently, having assembled about 30 mobile teams stocking fodder in the Perm region with the help of 300 units of machinery.

Marat Akhmetov recalled 500 million roubles had a short while before been allocated to buy and lay in fodder for cattle but that was just a small part of the government’s aid. Several billon roubles in financial aid will be allocated for these purposes, the minister pledged.

“Further aid will only be provided considering the laid in feed,” Akhmetov said. Agricultural firms that are being idle will not receive the money. If by the beginning of wintering the situation does nor alter, “we will take the cattle away from them”, the minister said.

Private farmsteads that were recently allocated 300 million roubles for will be given additional financial aid as well. The support should before August 10 be delivered to the farmers in the form of forage grain. The private producers keeping over 3 cows should be given attention. “The farmsteads need your special care,” the minister enhanced.

The straw stocking campaign is rife with violations of all the standards, resulting in fodder being left on the fields, the minister lashed out. He suggested involving private farmers in the work, as with their thrifty attitude would allow gather straw at the fields.
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