The Tatarstan agriculture chief has demanded the laying in of fodder be more intensive.

(Kazan, August 23, Tatar-inform, Irina Ignatieva). The Tatarstan deputy prime minister, agriculture minister Marat Akhmetov has held a phone conference dealing with a crucial issue of laying in feed for the winter.

According to M.Akhmetov, the forage conservation is in its final stages in Tatarstan. The only crop to be harvested is corn for silage. There are farms in Tatarstan, however, that have not yet laid in half of the feed required for the winter. In total, Tatarstan has conserved 600 thousand tonnes of hay, silage and straw and over 2 million tonnes of haylage. This is about 17 feed units per animal, while at least 25 is needed. The prices of purchased feed could double in the winter, the minister warned.

The situation is different by the region. There are regions that have exceeded the Tatarstan’s average output and those who are lagging behind, Marat Akhmetov reported.

Next year, he went on to say, the area sown with corn, millet, Sudan grass and other feed crops will be doubled, to have an emergency stock in case of a drought.
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