Growing new potatoes for sale. Potato growing technology

In recent years, there has been a massive migration of rural residents to cities. This is primarily due to the fact that people in the villages do not have the opportunity to work and receive decent means of living. But the situation is rather paradoxical: in the cities, people are also not welcomed with open arms, which is due to hidden unemployment. It is especially difficult for young people and people of pre-retirement age.

But, according to experts, this situation is not at all hopeless. Rural residents have a good chance to improve their well-being by translating modern business ideas into real life. And the production of potatoes is one of such progressive ideas, moreover, young people today have enough theoretical and practical skills for this. The only thing to consider is that in order for such production to be profitable, profits must be maximized through the use of high-yielding potato varieties.

Agronomic background

In developed countries, for example, in the Netherlands, where innovative technologies have been used in agriculture for decades, about 40 tons of potatoes can be harvested from 1 hectare, and in Russia - no more than 8. That is why potato cultivation must be approached wisely. Maximum yields can only be achieved on fields that have stood under green fallow for 2 years. Such a system is called a three-field system, and has repeatedly confirmed its effectiveness. Therefore, for growing potatoes, it is worth taking only such fields, and then the result will meet expectations.

There are enough such sites in central Russia. But even on rested fields without modern technologies it is almost impossible to get high yields of potatoes. For beginner agronomists, the book by O. A. Ganichkin “Getting Early Potatoes” will be very useful, where the author gives a detailed answer on why it is best to use zoned potato varieties for planting. For example, it was noticed that in the Non-Chernozem region such early ripening varieties as "Pioneer", "Vyatka" and "Lubimets" showed excellent results.

The opinion of experts that the cultivation of potatoes needs a scientific approach has found a lively response from ordinary rural residents. Many of them, having studied the relevant literature and consulted with experienced agronomists about the optimal varieties of potatoes, really managed to get higher yields of their favorite vegetable.

The most common mistakes

But not everything is so simple: you can study a lot of literature, rent good fields, and the harvest will not be so hot. Very often this happens due to the fact that infected potatoes are purchased as seeds. A similar problem is familiar to the inhabitants of Ukraine firsthand. Due to the use of low-quality sowing material, 13-16 tons of potatoes are harvested there on average, and the maximum possible figure with such soil fertility is 50 tons.

You need to buy seed potatoes only from those villagers who themselves are engaged in growing tubers in their backyard. Before buying, you should carefully inspect the tubers, which should not have any spots. You can significantly speed up the germination of potatoes. To do this, it must be placed in a dark, cool room. The potato is ready for planting when it has dark green sprouts 2 centimeters long. At this point, for safety, they can be sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate and treated with microfertilizers.

Obvious Benefit: Growing Early Potatoes

It's no secret that early potatoes are quite expensive: up to 100 rubles per kilogram. You can get it only by seedlings. For this purpose, pre-prepared potato tubers are planted in boxes, the ground level in which must be at least 10 centimeters. For this, rooms with access to daylight and a constant temperature are suitable. In this way, you can win about a month from the weather. Potatoes can be planted in the ground only when the height of the shoots reaches 7 centimeters. The seedlings are transferred to the prepared hole along with part of the earth. The optimal period is 3-4 weeks of April.

The profitability rate of such potato growing can reach 70%. It is these indicators that have been demonstrated by Belarusian agriculture for more than a decade.

According to experts, a well-rested field and high-quality seed material can provide up to a ton of harvest from one hundred square meters. But, of course, such indicators are unlikely to be available to beginners in this business. For them, the best result will be already 20 tons per hectare. It is best to start growing potatoes on a plot of half a hectare, and then you can already think about expanding. The most profitable are farms with a tuber planting area of ​​more than 10 hectares.

Current expenses

Beginning entrepreneurs should focus on the following costs (per one hundred square meters of land):
• 15-25 kg of seed potatoes;
• 2 thousand rubles for insecticides and fertilizers;
• financial resources for the transportation of seeds and crops;
• the cost of regular trips to the fields;
• if necessary, the labor of hired workers.

In addition, there may be unexpected costs.

If we take into account that the price per kilogram of seeds is on average 12 rubles, and the initial profitability does not exceed 30%, then the beginner's profit can be about 120-130 thousand rubles. These calculations are valid for a field of half a hectare.

Without potatoes, it is impossible to imagine the diet of the average Russian. Summer residents dig up beds with enviable patience every spring in order to provide the family with an annual supply of potatoes in the fall. However, not everyone imagines that seasonal work in the garden can become a profitable business. We will talk about how to open your own potato growing business in this article.

If you enjoy farming or live in a rural area where it is difficult to find other jobs, think about ways to turn your hobby into a source of income. Reasons to get into potato farming are enough:

The producer must be prepared for the challenges that farmers often face. These are unpredictable weather conditions, pest invasions, theft of products from the fields. It is necessary to have free funds for the purchase of mineral fertilizers, seed tubers, pesticides, agricultural machinery, fuels and lubricants, inventory. However, in a harvest year, all the costs of growing potatoes can pay off many times over.

Where to begin?

If you own land in a rural area, this will be a great advantage, as you will avoid the extra cost of renting other people's crop areas. It is good if the personal plot is located in the black earth zone, where the soil is with a large amount of fertile layer.

It is important for a novice farmer to think through everything to the smallest detail: where to buy seed, where to store it, how to cultivate the land, how to fertilize it, how to process potato tops from weeds and pests. It is necessary to come up with options for watering plants during a dry summer, runoff for water during heavy rainfall, calculate the cost of purchasing processing equipment, working equipment. In advance, it is worth taking care of the place of storage of the crop, ensuring its protection.

Rules for growing potatoes

Potatoes do not like being grown in the same place for several years in a row. Agronomists recommend following the rules of crop rotation, sowing the soil with the same crops 3-4 years after harvest. Replacing one crop with another when planting helps to reduce soil contamination by diseases and pests. Plant growers advise replacing seed potatoes every 3-4 years, favoring high-yielding varieties that are resistant to the diseases you have identified in previous years.

The most productive Russian varieties - Golubizna, Luck, Zhukovsky early

The first thing to do in order to get a good harvest is to prepare the soil for plowing. To do this, in the fall, in a large container, you need to mix manure with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer (1 bucket of manure + 50 g of fertilizer per 1 square meter of soil), and then add the mixture to the ground when loosening, digging or plowing.

If it was not possible to prepare the land in the fall, top dressing is added in the spring already when potatoes are planted. When planting, together with a tuber, two handfuls of a mixture of ash and humus are poured into the hole in equal proportions, and a tablespoon of special fertilizer for potatoes, which is sold in any specialized store, is placed on top. The manure added during planting must be rotted, otherwise the potato runs the risk of getting scab, a disease in which dark spots appear on the surface of the vegetable.

The second thing they pay attention to when planting tubers is soil temperature. When digging a hole at a depth of 15-20 centimeters, the temperature of the earth is measured, which should warm up to at least 10-12 degrees Celsius.

Landing methods

• Landing under a shovel: the distance between the tubers should be about 40 centimeters, and the row width should be 80-90 for ventilation and plant care.
• Under the straw: the tubers are laid out on the ground at the same distance, fertilized, and then covered with a thick, about half a meter, layer of straw.
• Under the walk-behind tractor: they use a special nozzle that digs a hole, puts potatoes in it, adds fertilizer, fills the hole.

It is recommended to plant seed potatoes with a diameter of 4-5 centimeters, selected in autumn from bushes with a bountiful harvest. When buying potato tubers, it is recommended to pay attention to the "elite" varieties that give the highest yield and are most protected from pests. Ask the seller for a quarantine certificate and a varietal identification document confirming the origin of the seeds.

Seed potatoes Nevsky - elite variety

If you purchased early varieties of potatoes, remember that they are not resistant to late blight, but medium and late varieties are more resistant to this disease. The southern regions are characterized by "macrosporiosis", manifested by large spots on the lower leaves, which cause their death. Bordeaux liquid (copper sulfate) at a concentration of 0.01-0.02% is recognized as a treatment for these diseases.

Tuber preparation

Material for planting is prepared in 15-20 days. Why? Pre-planting material is washed in a medium solution of potassium permanganate. Then it must be laid out in boxes in 1-2 layers, covered from direct sunlight, placed in a bright room at room temperature, spraying every few days with a weak solution of mineral fertilizers or growth regulators. If the manipulations are performed correctly, in ten days strong green sprouts up to one and a half centimeters long will appear on the potatoes. After the tubers are transferred to another room, the temperature in which does not exceed 10-14 degrees Celsius. Before planting in the ground, potato tubers are treated with a special solution of boric acid (20 grams per 10 liters of water) to protect them from aggressive environmental influences.

If you planted germinated seed material, the first shoots will appear in 10 days. In northern regions with lower temperatures, the first seedlings of potatoes may appear in a month.

To hinder the rooting of weeds and saturate the soil with oxygen, on the 5th-6th day after planting, the field is harrowed - the top layer of the earth is loosened (no more than 5 centimeters).

A few weeks later, when the tops reach 10-15 centimeters, the rows are spudded, pouring earth on the base of the bush. The benefit of hilling is that the roots of the bush receive more land, nutrients, moisture, due to which their active growth occurs. When hilling, potash fertilizers mixed with ammonium nitrate are added. Before the potatoes begin to bloom, it is important to have time to carry out 2-3 hillings. Late loosening of the soil can cause damage to the root system of the bush, which will negatively affect its yield.

Vegetable growers evaluate the need for plants in fertilizers by the condition of the leaves:

• Weak, poorly developing leaves, thin stems - there is not enough nitrogen in the soil.
• Dark, curly leaves - a lack of phosphorus.
• Elongated leaves with tips twisted up - little potassium.
• Brown spots on the lower leaves - lack of magnesium, zinc, excessive moisture.

It is important for a gardener to remember the dangers of an excess of moisture in a potato field. Heavy rains can make it difficult for oxygen to reach the roots, causing them to rot and die. However, during flowering, plants are extremely sensitive to drought, therefore, with a lack of moisture during this period, they especially need watering to ensure an abundant root ovary.

Water the planting with obvious signs of drying out of the soil. If the flowering of plants has not yet begun, after watering the soil is loosened, and the rows are spudded.

How to protect root crops from pests?

The most common enemy of the gardener is the Colorado potato beetle. Most regions of Russia suffer from the invasion of this pest, with the exception of the cold northern regions.

The female Colorado potato beetle lays up to 500 eggs on the reverse side of the lower leaves of the bush, from which larvae will hatch in a week, feeding on potato tops. After another 2-3 weeks, the grown larvae burrow into the soil, where after 10 days they become adult beetles. Reproductive function in adults appears after another 2 weeks. During the summer season, 2-3 generations of the Colorado potato beetle grow, and in areas with a warm climate - 3-4 generations.

The beetle is important to detect and destroy in a timely manner. In small potato plots, gardeners manually collect beetles and their larvae, and spray large areas under crops with chemicals. Many gardeners a week before planting seeds lay potato peelings in the furrows, luring overwintered insects, which are then destroyed.

Another common pest is the wireworm (larva of the click beetle), which is especially common in virgin lands, as well as in fields overgrown with wheatgrass and other perennial grasses. Wireworms spoil the tubers, making long moves in them, thereby causing potato rot.

To protect against wireworms, weed control is carried out on sown areas, especially wheatgrass, by adding lime or wood ash to the soil.

Collection and storage of potatoes

Harvesting potatoes is the most important part of its cultivation. With high-quality harvesting, vegetables retain their integrity, which ensures their long-term storage. They begin to remove tubers from the field after the tops die off at normal soil moisture. Potatoes dug up in time contain the most nutrients and starch, easily separated from the roots without damaging the skin. It is not recommended to remove potatoes from the field before - the tubers will not have time to form. It is also not worth delaying harvesting - after the end of the growth period, the tubers begin to lose weight, which negatively affects their quality during long-term storage.

It is important to harvest potatoes in dry weather, as dry tubers without rot last longer. Pre-potatoes are stored in a dark, ventilated place to dry and strengthen the peel, whole tubers are selected.

It is recommended to store the crop in a dark, dry place with an average temperature of 2-3 degrees Celsius in wooden compartments or boxes raised 10-20 centimeters above the floor. If the potato freezes slightly, it acquires a sweetish taste, quickly deteriorates, loses its presentation. With an increase in storage temperature, sprouts appear on the tubers, sucking out nutrients and producing solanine, which, when eaten in large quantities, can cause poisoning of the body.

It is recommended to store potatoes in a dark, cool place.

Potatoes are divided into 3 parts: seed material for the next year, tubers for long-term and medium-term storage. Until spring, it is customary to leave medium-sized vegetables without external damage during harvesting and without traces of pests. Agronomists recommend selling large tubers in late autumn or early winter, since with longer storage, voids and darkening form inside the vegetable, which causes potatoes to deteriorate quickly.

The Future of Potato - Aeroponics

While Russian, European and Finnish scientists are arguing about authorship, aeroponics is gaining popularity not only in specialized farms, but also among modern gardeners. The aeroponics method is based on the cultivation of agricultural crops without the use of soil or water, when the roots of plants are suspended in the air of a dark chamber in a vertical position, and they receive nutrition by aerosol method in accordance with the growth stage and species. The stems and leaves of plants are located in the light, which is regulated in the laboratory.

Finnish scientists conducted a two-year experiment that proved the effectiveness of growing potato tubers using aeroponics. According to the researchers, this method allows you to increase the yield by 8-10 times, as it allows you to harvest from the bush not once, but many times.

Video: how the aeroponics method works

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wBT5ByNIk0

Paperwork

You will have to register an entrepreneurship if you plan to sow large areas of leased land or sell products by bank transfer. If you plan to grow potatoes on a hectare of your own land, your activity falls under the concept of "managing personal subsidiary plots" and does not require registration with the tax authorities.

To sell potatoes grown on a personal plot, the seller must have a certificate from the village council or administration, which confirms that the products were grown on his plot, provided by the state for personal needs.

If you have plans to expand your business to several hectares, hire auxiliary workers, the optimal organizational form for you is individual entrepreneurship (IP). The agricultural tax is 6% of profits (revenues minus expenses). This is the minimum tax in the current taxation system. However, when paying the unified agricultural tax (UAT), the entrepreneur will have to keep a book of income and expenses without fail. If maintaining such documentation is difficult, a businessman has the right to work under a simplified taxation system with a payment of 6% of turnover.

To sell potatoes, an individual entrepreneur must obtain a declaration of conformity, which can only be issued by a legal entity. On a voluntary basis, you can also obtain a certificate of conformity. To obtain a declaration of conformity, the following documents are submitted to the certification body:

• copies of title documents;
• copies of technical documents;
• notification confirming the quality of products;
• act confirming the sampling.

How to evaluate the profitability of production?

Based on the experience of farmers, the profitability of the potato growing business in the first year of operation is small - 25-30% of the invested funds. The entrepreneur takes into account the lack of high-quality seed material, fertilizers, chemicals, trained personnel, harvesting equipment, a warehouse for storing crops, and the necessary experience in growing potatoes at the initial stage.

Table: calculation of the profitability of sowing a potato field with an area of ​​​​1 hectare

Profitability in the example is about 27% at the lowest seasonal purchase price of 8 rubles. per kg of potatoes in the regions, the need to buy seeds, the lack of own equipment for processing the field. The calculation also does not include the work of the entrepreneur himself, his relatives. If the products are sold at high prices, profits will increase significantly, but the sale of potatoes at such prices in the winter-spring period requires additional costs for storage, sorting, and crop protection. An increase in profitability up to 50-60% should also be expected after the acquisition of our own agricultural machinery, an increase in productivity.

Sales of products

Grown potatoes are sold in several ways:

1. Wholesale. Selling potatoes to wholesalers or resellers at low wholesale prices can be profitable for the manufacturer only with very large volumes of purchases in the absence of premises for storing vegetables. Wholesale purchase prices are usually 2 times lower than the retail price.
2. Through small shops. In this case, the manufacturer needs to package the root crops in nets, bags, packages - pre-sale preparation improves the appearance of the product, speeds up its sale to the end consumer. The fast sale of potatoes in the store will provide the supplier with regular orders and stable profits. Purchase prices for potatoes in the small wholesale segment are 20-30% higher than wholesale prices.
3. Independent sale in the markets, in the yards of residential complexes, via the Internet. When selling potatoes, it is important to be active: regularly take products to markets, seasonal food fairs, and regional mini-markets. High-quality potatoes that do not contain damage by pests, traces of diseases will always find their buyer. With regular trade, a large number of regular customers will appear who are ready to pay a high retail price for the product, especially in the winter-spring period.
4. Deliveries to other regions where prices are higher. If the seasonal cost of 1 kilogram of potatoes in the central region of Russia ranges from 8 to 10 rubles, prices for it, for example, in the Moscow Region or Krasnodar Territory will be 20-25 rubles per kilogram. It is important for the manufacturer to find distribution channels, calculate the cost of delivery and get the maximum profit.

• On the field a year before sowing potatoes, grow peas or soybeans. Farmers claim that such reseeding can increase the yield from each bush by 20-30%.
• Potato furrows are recommended to be cut in a north-south direction, as this direction provides plants with uniform lighting. Thanks to this simple recommendation, the yield can be increased by 10%.
• It is important to plant seeds of early varieties in the most fertile places of the site at a shallow depth.
• Before planting, the tubers are treated with a solution of ammonium nitrate and superphosphate (40 grams per 1 liter) or wood ash.
• Do not use seed with spots to avoid rotting or infection of the future crop with diseases.

If you live in a rural area or have your own farmland outside the city, build a potato growing business. With properly calculated costs, hiring staff, rented equipment and large areas under crops, successful farmers receive significant profits. What is the secret of their success? Developed business plan and action!

One of the most profitable business niches is growing and selling potatoes. Today it is difficult to imagine the diet of most Russians without this root crop, so such an agricultural crop will always be in great consumer demand. Growing potatoes is a promising and long-term activity, moreover, there are no problems with the sale of products. To successfully develop in this direction, an entrepreneur needs to competently organize his own business.

First, it is recommended to analyze the situation on the market, determine the profitability of activities, as well as calculate the amount of investments and possible income. To date, farmers cannot fully satisfy the needs of buyers, so growing potatoes for sale is very profitable. Despite the large number of manufacturers, the business is not afraid of competition and is highly profitable.

Is it profitable to grow potatoes for sale?

What is useful to know for a novice entrepreneur who decides to grow potatoes for sale? This type of activity is highly profitable, besides, today modern technologies are used that allow growing root crops in greenhouses all year round and harvesting several crops per season. The business of growing and selling potatoes has its positive and negative sides. The pluses should include:

• the possibility of growing root crops even on a small plot of land;
• fast return on investment;
• high consumer demand for potatoes, regardless of seasonality;
• the possibility of combining business with other activities;
• relative ease of care.

If a person has a garden, he can also grow potatoes and earn decent money from it. There is no tax to pay for this type of home business. Fertilizers are inexpensive, and there are many people in the countryside who want to earn money (it doesn’t hurt to hire them to weed the land and care for potatoes). The costs will be negligible.

Growing potatoes is not only able to bring profit all year round, but also saves on fertilizers, since the tops are used to form humus on the site. If you install greenhouses on the ground, you can harvest 3 crops in 1 year. Investments usually pay off after 4 months from the beginning of the first planting.

This business is not without flaws, and every entrepreneur who is interested in profitable business should know about them. First of all, there is a great dependence of the quality of the crop on weather conditions. If there is intense heat in the region, the plants need to be protected with irrigation systems. Potatoes have a lot of enemies among insects. To combat them, various chemicals are successfully used today, which allow saving the crop. Therefore, these disadvantages should be considered rather as additional precautions.

To understand how profitable it is to grow potatoes for sale yourself, let's give a simple example. Let's say a businessman rented (or owns) 30 acres of land. From every 100 sq. m, you can collect about 280 kg of potatoes, and from the entire area - 8.4 thousand kg. If you sell it in bulk at a price of 20 rubles, you can get revenue of 168 thousand rubles.

To cultivate the land, you will need to buy a walk-behind tractor (mini-tractor) with a body, as well as a hiller, a mounted plow and a device for digging up root crops. Still need to purchase fertilizer for the site. Investments for these purposes will amount to about 80 thousand rubles. The benefits of this type of activity are obvious. If you install greenhouses and grow plants all year round, profits will increase significantly.

Potato growing technology

There are many different ways to grow potatoes, allowing you to get a fairly good harvest. Let us dwell on the Dutch method, since it does not require large expenses and allows plants to develop in natural conditions (without the use of greenhouses).

A feature of this technology is the minimum mechanical processing of the land and the potato itself. The method involves the use of ground aeration, which provides effective ventilation of soil layers by mixing them with atmospheric air. To implement it, the soil is first loosened, after which the planting material is placed in the formed earthen ridges, while it is necessary to ensure that the distance between the planting rows is large enough.

Growing potatoes according to this method makes it possible to collect up to 1.8-2 kg of root crops from one bush, while the potatoes themselves can be stored for a long time under certain conditions. When selecting planting material, pay attention to the tubers: each of them should have about 5-6 eyes in order to get a good harvest.

Immediately before planting, root crops should be warmed up in spacious, bright areas. Then they are placed in the ground until sprouts form, while the material should be in a room where it is recommended to maintain 6-8 ° heat. Ready seedlings must be sent for further growth in natural conditions in well-warmed soil.

Up to 600 potato bushes are allowed to be planted on one hundred square meters of land, while it is better to arrange them in such a way as to provide good lighting. The beds are formed from north to south with an interval between rows of up to 0.75 m. As for watering potatoes, this should be done no more than 3 times over the entire period of the crop's life. The first is carried out when sprouts appear, then before flowering begins, and after it ends.

Important: to protect potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle and other pests, it is recommended to treat the tops with pesticides even before the onset of the flowering period.

Growing potatoes as a business

Consider the main stages of business development.

Land Acquisition

An important step in organizing a potato growing business is the acquisition of land. On average, one hundred square meters will have to pay 5 thousand rubles, and about 0.25-0.3 hectares will be required for planting. Thus, the minimum investment for the purchase will be 75 thousand rubles.

A person can organize a small one, in which case his income will be small, but he won’t have to spend money on buying a land plot. As for the lease of land, its cost can reach several thousand rubles per hundred square meters, so it is more expedient to invest in your own land. Before buying a plot, you should consult with a lawyer who will inform you about all the intricacies of land registration and assist in filling out the documents.

Business registration

To start entrepreneurial activity, a businessman needs to contact the Federal Tax Service at the place of residence and register a peasant farm or individual entrepreneur. Often such a business is organized simultaneously by several partners. In this case, to register an enterprise, it is worth submitting an appropriate contract indicating the contact details of each of the co-owners of the business. In addition, the contract should specify the rights and obligations of each of the partners, as well as the procedure for exiting the business of each of them. If necessary, you can find out from a specialist in the department of the Federal Tax Service how to do it right and agree on the frequency of payment.

When registering an enterprise, it is necessary to indicate OKVED codes. For growing potatoes, you can choose:

• 01.1 - "Growing annual crops";
• 01.13 - "Growing vegetables, root crops, gourds and tubers, mushrooms and truffles";
• 01.13.1 - "Growing vegetables";
• 01.13.12 - "Cultivation of protected ground vegetables".

New entrepreneurs who want to make money on growing and do not know which form of taxation is better to choose. For this type of activity, the best option would be to pay a single agricultural tax, the rate of which is only 6%.

Selection of premises

A businessman should take care of the proper storage of the crop, so you need to find the appropriate storage facilities equipped with:

• ventilation;
• lighting;
• heating system.

Storage areas must be dry, free of moisture and mold. Root crops should be dried before being placed in storage, and also sorted so that there are no rotten tubers among the crop. Illiquid potatoes can be handed over to farms specializing in other livestock, which will accept them as feed for a small price. As for the cost of renting storage facilities, it varies between 30-40 thousand rubles for 1 month.

Purchase of equipment

For the operation of a farm for growing potatoes, it is necessary to purchase the appropriate equipment. If you have to use a large amount of planting material, you should buy a potato planter. This machine allows you to perform large amounts of work in a short time and greatly simplifies the work of people.

In addition, it is desirable to acquire special harvesters for harvesting root crops. They allow you to automate harvesting, moreover, such equipment practically does not damage potato tubers. You can’t do without a potato digger on the field. Such a machine is needed for sampling root crops from the ground. You will also need a line for sorting the harvested crop on the farm, and it can also be used for onions. It allows you to easily select vegetables by size, for which the design provides for the possibility of installing gratings with the appropriate fractions.

Without fail, a small tractor will be required, with the help of which weeding work will be carried out, as well as the transportation of the crop. The minimum set of equipment for farming will be:

• tractor with trailer - 250 thousand rubles;
• automated line for sorting root crops - 200 thousand rubles;
• potato digger - 150 thousand rubles;
• harvester - 300 thousand rubles;
• potato planter - 70 thousand rubles.

Total - the cost of purchasing equipment will amount to 970 thousand rubles. Most entrepreneurs do not have the opportunity to invest such an amount of money to buy the necessary equipment for the economy. For this reason, equipment can be rented or leased before harvesting.

Purchase of planting material

Another item in the cost item will be the purchase of seed and organic fertilizers, which are necessary for the full growth of the crop. About 30 thousand rubles will have to be allocated for chemicals before sowing root crops. How to correctly calculate the number of seedlings required for sowing the land? Based on practice, about 20 kg of seed (tubers) will be required per 1 weave of land. Thus, for 0.3 ha, you need to provide 20 * 30 = 600 kg of root crops. The wholesale price for the purchase of potatoes is on average 20 rubles per 1 kg, so you will have to spend 12 thousand rubles to purchase seed. Taking into account fertilizers, the costs will cost 42 thousand rubles.

Formation of a team of workers

What kind of employees to attract to work in a potato farm? To do this, it does not hurt to invite machine operators - specialists who will service the equipment and work on the land. Also, you can not do without handymen for weeding, watering and sorting root crops.

In addition, you will need an auto mechanic who will repair the equipment. In the summer, guards should be involved to control the order on the field. An example staffing might look like this:

• handyman (2 people) - 16 thousand rubles;
• machine operator (2 people) - 24 thousand rubles;
• enterprise manager - 20 thousand rubles;
• auto mechanic - 15 thousand rubles;
• security guard (2 people) - 20 thousand rubles;
• accounting (payment for outsourcing) - 5 thousand rubles.

In total, monthly expenses for the salaries of employees will amount to 100 thousand rubles. At first, the owner of the business can keep records of the warehouse economy, which will reduce the costs of remuneration of the relevant specialist.

Business plan for growing potatoes

Before embarking on a commercial project, an entrepreneur needs to develop a detailed business plan for growing potatoes. It allows you to determine the amount of initial costs for a start, evaluate the prospects and calculate the possible profit.

In addition, the businessman must know the amount of monthly expenses that are mandatory in the course of work. Calculate the amount of investment to start the enterprise, which includes the following components:

• purchase of land - 75 thousand rubles;
• purchase of equipment - 970 thousand rubles;
• planting material and fertilizers - 42 thousand rubles;
• business registration - 15 thousand rubles;
• purchase of fuel and lubricants - 10 thousand rubles;
• warehouse rental - 30 thousand rubles.

Thus, the amount of initial investments is 1.142 million rubles. Running a root crop business involves monthly costs, which include:

• rent of premises - 30 thousand rubles;
• payment for utilities - 25 thousand rubles;
• tax deductions - 20 thousand rubles;
• staff salary - 100 thousand rubles;
• equipment depreciation - 15 thousand rubles;
• purchase of fuel and lubricants - 10 thousand rubles;
• other expenses - 10 thousand rubles.

Total - regular costs amount to 216 thousand rubles. Now let's calculate the possible profit of the enterprise. It is realistic to harvest 280 kg of potatoes from one hundred square meters of land, the total yield will be 8.4 tons. Let half a ton of potatoes be unsuitable for sale. Thus, 7900 kg of root crops are obtained, which can be sold.

If you sell the harvest in bulk at a price of 20 rubles per 1 kg, the total amount of income will be 158 thousand rubles. When selling washed and dried root crops in small wholesale lots and retail, you can make a profit of about 40 rubles per 1 kg, which will bring 316 thousand rubles. The net profit from the sale of one crop will be 100 thousand rubles.

This amount can be increased many times if you organize year-round cultivation of potatoes in greenhouses. In the future, it will not hurt to scale the business, which will lead to a significant increase in income. For example, medium-sized farms own land plots with an area of ​​2 hectares or more. This allows you to harvest more than 50 tons of crops at a time.

FAQ

Consider frequently asked questions on the topic.

What is the demand for potatoes today?

Potato is one of the most important food products, the demand for which does not depend on the season. As practice shows, the profit from the sale of root crops in winter can almost double. In addition to ordinary consumers, large quantities of potatoes are purchased by manufacturing firms. For example, potatoes are used to make starch and alcohol on an industrial scale. Recently, this product has been used for the production of chips. In addition, the main buyers of potatoes are wholesalers, large retail chains and supermarkets.

Where to look for potato marketing channels?

Entrepreneurs who want, for example, initially focus on the huge consumer demand for such a product. Potatoes do not need advertising, and they will be bought in any quantities. Consider several effective ways to sell the crop:

1. Sale on the collective farm markets. This option is able to bring good profit, however, it should be understood that it requires an investment of a large amount of time. This task should be entrusted to one of the family members or involve implementers. It is profitable to sell potatoes from mid-autumn to early May, when this product is in great demand (despite high prices).
2. Delivery of potatoes for sale. A fairly promising option, since it allows you to gain a decent amount of money. To do this, you should find several sellers who have their own outlets and offer them favorable terms of cooperation.
3. Harvest wholesale. An entrepreneur can hand over large quantities of potatoes to wholesale buyers, as well as to purveyors. They offer a low price for the goods, but if you need money for all the products at once, this is the best option. It is most often resorted to by large farms that can offer buyers large quantities of goods.
4. Direct sales of potatoes to retail chains and shops. This option is considered the most profitable. The entrepreneur can arrange the supply of potatoes to stores at an agreed price. Washed and packaged products are in great demand among buyers.

Important: if it is planned to grow potatoes in large volumes, it makes sense to find buyers for the products in advance. Wholesalers and manufacturers should agree on the terms on which they will cooperate. This will allow you to grow potatoes and not worry about finding distribution channels.

What documents need to be issued for potatoes?

According to the requirements of the TR of the Customs Union, potatoes must undergo a mandatory quality assessment. For this reason, manufacturers will have to have the appropriate documentation. You can get it from an accredited organization that provides product certification services. Such a body must have the right to assess the quality of food products, as well as issue the relevant documents, which are approved by Russian law. If it is planned to store potatoes, especially with the use of heating systems, a businessman will need to obtain permits for doing business in state supervision and a sanitary and epidemiological station.

Is it possible to build a business on the resale of potatoes?

Consider the idea of ​​​​a business selling potatoes, associated with its implementation by the type of market dealers. Its essence lies in the fact that you need to place ads in the sleeping areas of the city for the sale of products, receive orders from customers and breed goods at the specified addresses. It should be immediately noted that the minimum order must be at least 30 kg (the volume of one mesh). To start making money, you don’t need to register an enterprise at the initial stage, spend money on renting an office space or buying a vehicle.

Earnings from the sale of one grid is about 200 rubles. Renting a truck costs about 300 rubles per hour. In order to make a profit and not work at a loss, you should manage to deliver more than 3 nets of potatoes to customers during this time. The product must be purchased in advance at wholesale markets or supermarkets. To do this, it is enough to have only a few thousand rubles of starting capital. Relatively quickly, you can reach a stable income of up to 10 thousand rubles a day, which will require daily investments in the purchase of goods of about 25 thousand. Businessmen who have already built up their client base receive up to 20 calls per hour. It is easy to calculate the possible profit per day. The best option would be to deliver potatoes simultaneously to courtyards with multi-storey buildings, where this service is most popular.

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In summary, we note that the potato growing business is a very promising activity. Due to the high consumer demand, the popularity of these products will not decrease, so entrepreneurs can expand their activities and consistently earn decent money.

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• 1 Is it profitable to grow potatoes for sale?
• 2 Potato growing technology
• 3 Growing potatoes as a business
  • 3.1 Land acquisition
  • 3.2 Business registration
  • 3.3 Selection of premises
  • 3.4 Procurement of equipment
  • 3.5 Purchase of planting material
  • 3.6 Formation of a team of workers
• 4 Potato Growing Business Plan
• 5 Frequently Asked Questions
  • 5.1 What is the demand for potatoes today?
  • 5.2 Where to look for marketing channels for potatoes?
  • 5.3 What documents need to be issued for potatoes?
  • 5.4 Is it possible to build a business on the resale of potatoes?

One of the most profitable business niches is growing and selling potatoes. Today it is difficult to imagine the diet of most Russians without this root crop, so such an agricultural crop will always be in great consumer demand. Growing potatoes is a promising and long-term activity, moreover, there are no problems with the sale of products. To successfully develop in this direction, an entrepreneur needs to competently organize his own business.

First, it is recommended to analyze the situation on the market, determine the profitability of activities, as well as calculate the amount of investments and possible income. To date, farmers cannot fully satisfy the needs of buyers, so growing potatoes for sale is very profitable. Despite the large number of manufacturers, the business is not afraid of competition and is highly profitable.

Is it profitable to grow potatoes for sale?

What is useful to know for a novice entrepreneur who decides to grow potatoes for sale? This type of activity is highly profitable, besides, today modern technologies are used that allow growing root crops in greenhouses all year round and harvesting several crops per season. The business of growing and selling potatoes has its positive and negative sides. The pluses should include:

• the possibility of growing root crops even on a small plot of land;
• fast return on investment;
• high consumer demand for potatoes, regardless of seasonality;
• the possibility of combining business with other activities;
• relative ease of care.

If a person has a garden, he can also grow potatoes and earn decent money from it. There is no tax to pay for this type of home business. Fertilizers are inexpensive, and there are many people in the countryside who want to earn money (it doesn’t hurt to hire them to weed the land and care for potatoes). The costs will be negligible.

Growing potatoes is not only able to bring profit all year round, but also saves on fertilizers, since the tops are used to form humus on the site. If you install greenhouses on the ground, you can harvest 3 crops in 1 year. Investments usually pay off after 4 months from the beginning of the first planting.

This business is not without flaws, and every entrepreneur who is interested in profitable work for himself should know about them. First of all, there is a great dependence of the quality of the crop on weather conditions. If there is intense heat in the region, the plants need to be protected with irrigation systems. Potatoes have a lot of enemies among insects. To combat them, various chemicals are successfully used today, which allow saving the crop. Therefore, these disadvantages should be considered rather as additional precautions.

To understand how profitable it is to grow potatoes for sale yourself, let's give a simple example. Let's say a businessman rented (or owns) 30 acres of land. From every 100 sq. m, you can collect about 280 kg of potatoes, and from the entire area - 8.4 thousand kg. If you sell it in bulk at a price of 20 rubles, you can get revenue of 168 thousand rubles.

To cultivate the land, you will need to buy a walk-behind tractor (mini-tractor) with a body, as well as a hiller, a mounted plow and a device for digging up root crops. Still need to purchase fertilizer for the site. Investments for these purposes will amount to about 80 thousand rubles. The benefits of this type of activity are obvious. If you install greenhouses and grow plants all year round, profits will increase significantly.

Potato growing technology

There are many different ways to grow potatoes, allowing you to get a fairly good harvest. Let us dwell on the Dutch method, since it does not require large expenses and allows plants to develop in natural conditions (without the use of greenhouses).

A feature of this technology is the minimum mechanical processing of the land and the potato itself. The method involves the use of ground aeration, which provides effective ventilation of soil layers by mixing them with atmospheric air. To implement it, the soil is first loosened, after which the planting material is placed in the formed earthen ridges, while it is necessary to ensure that the distance between the planting rows is large enough.

Growing potatoes according to this method makes it possible to collect up to 1.8-2 kg of root crops from one bush, while the potatoes themselves can be stored for a long time under certain conditions. When selecting planting material, pay attention to the tubers: each of them should have about 5-6 eyes in order to get a good harvest.

Immediately before planting, root crops should be warmed up in spacious, bright areas. Then they are placed in the ground until sprouts form, while the material should be in a room where it is recommended to maintain 6-8 ° heat. Ready seedlings must be sent for further growth in natural conditions in well-warmed soil.

Up to 600 potato bushes are allowed to be planted on one hundred square meters of land, while it is better to arrange them in such a way as to provide good lighting. The beds are formed from north to south with an interval between rows of up to 0.75 m. As for watering potatoes, this should be done no more than 3 times over the entire period of the crop's life. The first is carried out when sprouts appear, then before flowering begins, and after it ends.

Important: to protect potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle and other pests, it is recommended to treat the tops with pesticides even before the onset of the flowering period.

Growing potatoes as a business

Consider the main stages of business development.

Land Acquisition

An important step in organizing a potato growing business is the acquisition of land. On average, one hundred square meters will have to pay 5 thousand rubles, and about 0.25-0.3 hectares will be required for planting. Thus, the minimum investment for the purchase will be 75 thousand rubles.

A person can organize a small business in the country, in which case his income will be small, but he will not have to spend money on buying a land plot. As for the lease of land, its cost can reach several thousand rubles per hundred square meters, so it is more expedient to invest in your own land. Before buying a plot, you should consult with a lawyer who will inform you about all the intricacies of land registration and assist in filling out the documents.

Business registration

To start entrepreneurial activity, a businessman needs to contact the Federal Tax Service at the place of residence and register a peasant farm or individual entrepreneur. Often such a business is organized simultaneously by several partners. In this case, to register an enterprise, it is worth submitting an appropriate contract indicating the contact details of each of the co-owners of the business. In addition, the contract should specify the rights and obligations of each of the partners, as well as the procedure for exiting the business of each of them. If necessary, a specialist in the department of the Federal Tax Service can learn how to correctly calculate the land tax and agree on the frequency of payment.

When registering an enterprise, it is necessary to indicate OKVED codes. For growing potatoes, you can choose:

• 01.1 - "Growing annual crops";
• 01.13 - "Growing vegetables, root crops, gourds and tubers, mushrooms and truffles";
• 01.13.1 - "Growing vegetables";
• 01.13.12 - "Cultivation of protected ground vegetables".

Novice entrepreneurs who want to make money growing and selling vegetables and fruits do not know which form of taxation is better to choose. For this type of activity, the best option would be to pay a single agricultural tax, the rate of which is only 6%.

Selection of premises

A businessman should take care of the proper storage of the crop, so you need to find the appropriate storage facilities equipped with:

• ventilation;
• lighting;
• heating system.

Storage areas must be dry, free of moisture and mold. Root crops should be dried before being placed in storage, and also sorted so that there are no rotten tubers among the crop. Illiquid potatoes can be handed over to farms specializing in growing turkeys at home and other livestock, which will accept them as feed for a small price. As for the cost of renting storage facilities, it varies between 30-40 thousand rubles for 1 month.

Purchase of equipment

For the operation of a farm for growing potatoes, it is necessary to purchase the appropriate equipment. If you have to use a large amount of planting material, you should buy a potato planter. This machine allows you to perform large amounts of work in a short time and greatly simplifies the work of people.

In addition, it is desirable to acquire special harvesters for harvesting root crops. They allow you to automate harvesting, moreover, such equipment practically does not damage potato tubers. You can’t do without a potato digger on the field. Such a machine is needed for sampling root crops from the ground. You will also need a line for sorting the harvested crop on the farm, and it can also be used for onions. It allows you to easily select vegetables by size, for which the design provides for the possibility of installing gratings with the appropriate fractions.

Without fail, a small tractor will be required, with the help of which weeding work will be carried out, as well as the transportation of the crop. The minimum set of equipment for farming will be:

• tractor with trailer - 250 thousand rubles;
• automated line for sorting root crops - 200 thousand rubles;
• potato digger - 150 thousand rubles;
• harvester - 300 thousand rubles;
• potato planter - 70 thousand rubles.

Total - the cost of purchasing equipment will amount to 970 thousand rubles. Most entrepreneurs do not have the opportunity to invest such an amount of money to buy the necessary equipment for the economy. For this reason, equipment can be rented or leased before harvesting.

Purchase of planting material

Another item in the cost item will be the purchase of seed and organic fertilizers, which are necessary for the full growth of the crop. About 30 thousand rubles will have to be allocated for chemicals before sowing root crops. How to correctly calculate the number of seedlings required for sowing the land? Based on practice, about 20 kg of seed (tubers) will be required per 1 weave of land. Thus, for 0.3 ha, you need to provide 20 * 30 = 600 kg of root crops. The wholesale price for the purchase of potatoes is on average 20 rubles per 1 kg, so you will have to spend 12 thousand rubles to purchase seed. Taking into account fertilizers, the costs will cost 42 thousand rubles.

Formation of a team of workers

What kind of employees to attract to work in a potato farm? To do this, it does not hurt to invite machine operators - specialists who will service the equipment and work on the land. Also, you can not do without handymen for weeding, watering and sorting root crops.

In addition, you will need an auto mechanic who will repair the equipment. In the summer, guards should be involved to control the order on the field. An example staffing might look like this:

• handyman (2 people) - 16 thousand rubles;
• machine operator (2 people) - 24 thousand rubles;
• enterprise manager - 20 thousand rubles;
• auto mechanic - 15 thousand rubles;
• security guard (2 people) - 20 thousand rubles;
• accounting (payment for outsourcing) - 5 thousand rubles.

In total, monthly expenses for the salaries of employees will amount to 100 thousand rubles. At first, the owner of the business can keep records of the warehouse economy, which will reduce the costs of remuneration of the relevant specialist.

Business plan for growing potatoes

Before embarking on a commercial project, an entrepreneur needs to develop a detailed business plan for growing potatoes. It allows you to determine the amount of initial costs for a start, evaluate the prospects and calculate the possible profit.

In addition, the businessman must know the amount of monthly expenses that are mandatory in the course of work. Calculate the amount of investment to start the enterprise, which includes the following components:

• purchase of land - 75 thousand rubles;
• purchase of equipment - 970 thousand rubles;
• planting material and fertilizers - 42 thousand rubles;
• business registration - 15 thousand rubles;
• purchase of fuel and lubricants - 10 thousand rubles;
• warehouse rental - 30 thousand rubles.

Thus, the amount of initial investments is 1.142 million rubles. Running a root crop business involves monthly costs, which include:

• rent of premises - 30 thousand rubles;
• payment for utilities - 25 thousand rubles;
• tax deductions - 20 thousand rubles;
• staff salary - 100 thousand rubles;
• equipment depreciation - 15 thousand rubles;
• purchase of fuel and lubricants - 10 thousand rubles;
• other expenses - 10 thousand rubles.

Total - regular costs amount to 216 thousand rubles. Now let's calculate the possible profit of the enterprise. It is realistic to harvest 280 kg of potatoes from one hundred square meters of land, the total yield will be 8.4 tons. Let half a ton of potatoes be unsuitable for sale. Thus, 7900 kg of root crops are obtained, which can be sold.

If you sell the harvest in bulk at a price of 20 rubles per 1 kg, the total amount of income will be 158 thousand rubles. When selling washed and dried root crops in small wholesale lots and retail, you can make a profit of about 40 rubles per 1 kg, which will bring 316 thousand rubles. The net profit from the sale of one crop will be 100 thousand rubles.

This amount can be increased many times if you organize year-round cultivation of potatoes in greenhouses. In the future, it will not hurt to scale the business, which will lead to a significant increase in income. For example, medium-sized farms own land plots with an area of ​​2 hectares or more. This allows you to harvest more than 50 tons of crops at a time.

FAQ

Consider frequently asked questions on the topic.

What is the demand for potatoes today?

Potato is one of the most important food products, the demand for which does not depend on the season. As practice shows, the profit from the sale of root crops in winter can almost double. In addition to ordinary consumers, large quantities of potatoes are purchased by manufacturing firms. For example, potatoes are used to make starch and alcohol on an industrial scale. Recently, this product has been used for the production of chips. In addition, the main buyers of potatoes are wholesalers, large retail chains and supermarkets.

Where to look for potato marketing channels?

Entrepreneurs who want, for example, to open a beer store, initially focus on the huge consumer demand for such a product. Potatoes do not need advertising, and they will be bought in any quantities. Consider several effective ways to sell the crop:

1. Sale on the collective farm markets. This option is able to bring good profit, however, it should be understood that it requires an investment of a large amount of time. This task should be entrusted to one of the family members or involve implementers. It is profitable to sell potatoes from mid-autumn to early May, when this product is in great demand (despite high prices).
2. Delivery of potatoes for sale. A fairly promising option, since it allows you to gain a decent amount of money. To do this, you should find several sellers who have their own outlets and offer them favorable terms of cooperation.
3. Harvest wholesale. An entrepreneur can hand over large quantities of potatoes to wholesale buyers, as well as to purveyors. They offer a low price for the goods, but if you need money for all the products at once, this is the best option. It is most often resorted to by large farms that can offer buyers large quantities of goods.
4. Direct sales of potatoes to retail chains and shops. This option is considered the most profitable. The entrepreneur can arrange the supply of potatoes to stores at an agreed price. Washed and packaged products are in great demand among buyers.

Important: if it is planned to grow potatoes in large volumes, it makes sense to find buyers for the products in advance. Wholesalers and manufacturers should agree on the terms on which they will cooperate. This will allow you to grow potatoes and not worry about finding distribution channels.

What documents need to be issued for potatoes?

According to the requirements of the TR of the Customs Union, potatoes must undergo a mandatory quality assessment. For this reason, manufacturers will have to have the appropriate documentation. You can get it from an accredited organization that provides product certification services. Such a body must have the right to assess the quality of food products, as well as issue the relevant documents, which are approved by Russian law. If it is planned to store potatoes, especially with the use of heating systems, a businessman will need to obtain permits for doing business in state supervision and a sanitary and epidemiological station.

Is it possible to build a business on the resale of potatoes?

Consider the idea of ​​​​a business selling potatoes, associated with its implementation by the type of market dealers. Its essence lies in the fact that you need to place ads in the sleeping areas of the city for the sale of products, receive orders from customers and breed goods at the specified addresses. It should be immediately noted that the minimum order must be at least 30 kg (the volume of one mesh). To start making money, you don’t need to register an enterprise at the initial stage, spend money on renting an office space or buying a vehicle.

Earnings from the sale of one grid is about 200 rubles. Renting a truck costs about 300 rubles per hour. In order to make a profit and not work at a loss, you should manage to deliver more than 3 nets of potatoes to customers during this time. The product must be purchased in advance at wholesale markets or supermarkets. To do this, it is enough to have only a few thousand rubles of starting capital. Relatively quickly, you can reach a stable income of up to 10 thousand rubles a day, which will require daily investments in the purchase of goods of about 25 thousand. Businessmen who have already built up their client base receive up to 20 calls per hour. It is easy to calculate the possible profit per day. The best option would be to deliver potatoes simultaneously to courtyards with multi-storey buildings, where this service is most popular.

Potatoes are one of the main products on the Russian table. Everyone eats potatoes and everyone buys them. Even those who grow this vegetable in their summer cottage can very rarely provide themselves with it in full. Therefore, potatoes have always been and will always be in demand among the population. It follows that the potato growing business is a profitable business. At the same time, growing potatoes is not very difficult; it grows well in most regions of our country.

What does it take to grow and sell a good crop of potatoes? Of course, the first thing you need is land. In addition, seed material, agricultural machinery, fertilizers and labor are needed. Well, before you take decisive action to acquire all these components, you need to draw up a business plan.

Stages of growing potatoes

Growing potatoes is a business with a quick payback. Only four months pass from the moment of planting to the moment of sale of the finished product. Growing potatoes includes the following steps:

1. Planting material preparation.
2. Soil preparation.
3. Landing.
4. Hilling.
5. Fertilizer.
6. Pest control.
7. Cleaning.
8. Storage.
9. Package.
10. Sale.

planting material

Preparation of planting material takes place in the fall. To do this, the grown potatoes are sorted out and small, clean, without signs of disease and spoilage of potatoes are selected. The potatoes selected for planting must be “greened”, that is, placed in the light for about twenty days. Direct sunlight is not suitable for this, the lighting should be diffused. This procedure improves the seed quality of potatoes and prevents rotting.

After sprouting, potatoes are stored in a room without access to light, with a temperature of 1 to 3 degrees and a humidity of 80-90%.

A month before sowing, the potatoes are moved to a bright and warm room. Here he should sprout. The size of the sprout before planting potatoes should be at least 1 cm.

If large potatoes were selected for planting (some varieties have tubers up to 400 g), it must be divided into parts. The potatoes are cut into halves or quarters, it should be borne in mind that each part should have at least two or three eyes. Cut the potatoes before germination or two weeks after the start of germination. It is useful to cover the cuts with wood ash to protect the tubers from diseases. In addition, ash is an excellent fertilizer.

Soil preparation and planting potatoes

Potatoes are planted in May - in central Russia. In the south, it can land in March-April. In the north of the country - in June. The main indicator is soil temperature. At a depth of 10-12 cm, the soil should warm up to 8 degrees.

Before planting, the land is cleared of weeds and loosened. They dig up the earth with shovels, a simpler option - with pitchforks, or using equipment: a plow and a walk-behind tractor or a tractor. By modern standards, the soil does not need to be turned over, while swapping the top and bottom layers. It just needs to be loosened well.

Potatoes are planted in rows, while the distance in the rows from bush to bush should be at least a meter. The distance in the rows is about thirty centimeters. This is enough for the normal development of the bush and processing with the help of technology.

The depth of planting potatoes should not be large - only 5-8 cm. But a ridge of earth is formed over the planted potato with the help of agricultural implements. The height of the comb when landing is 10 cm.

potato care

Approximately two weeks after planting, weeding and hilling are carried out. The ridge of soil above the potatoes after this procedure should increase by another 10 cm. The soil should be loose and soft. In this crest, potatoes will grow and develop.

When the potato bushes begin to bloom, they are sprayed with solutions of Colorado potato beetles, which can cause significant damage to the crop.

Potatoes can be watered two to three times a week in the absence of rain. In severe drought, watering can be daily. In cloudy weather and high humidity, the amount of watering can be reduced.

The best organic fertilizer for growing potatoes is cow or horse manure. It is introduced into the ground before planting and mixed with the soil. You can generally do without chemical fertilizers if there are organic ones and the soil is not depleted. And in order to maintain the fertility of the soil, after harvesting it should be sown with any green manure - sunflower, corn, clover, etc. They will not only act as a fertilizer, but will protect the soil from depletion, disease and the reproduction of harmful weeds. This will guarantee a good next harvest.

Potatoes should be harvested immediately after ripening, in which case they will retain all their useful qualities and will be stored longer. It must be stored in dry, specially equipped rooms.

Legal registration of agricultural business

If the land on which you grow potatoes in small quantities is owned by you and falls into the category of private household plots (personal subsidiary plots), then you can not register in any way and simply sell the products on the market.

But in order to expand your sales channels and become a businessman legally growing and selling your products, you will need to. In accordance with, your encoding is A. 01.13.21 - agricultural production. You will pay a single agricultural tax (). It is 6% of net income and is considered the most beneficial of business taxes.

Business plan for growing potatoes

Consider a specific example of a business plan for a private farm growing potatoes.

The area of ​​the cultivated area is 30 acres, is owned by the owner of the farm. First of all, it is planned to purchase the equipment necessary for work:

• Mini-tractor (or walk-behind tractor) - 35,000 rubles.
• Plow for a mini-tractor - 2,000.
• Hiller for a mini-tractor - 2,000.
• Body for the transport of goods using a mini-tractor - 20,000.
• Device for digging potatoes (attached to a mini-tractor) - 3,000.
• Total - 62,000 is necessary for the purchase of equipment.

Note that the equipment is purchased only once, that is, these are the costs of the first year of operation. In the future, expenses for repair and replacement of equipment are possible, but they will be much less.

In addition, after the harvest, there will be transportation costs to transport it to the buyer. They will amount to about 5,000 rubles. Hiring employees is not provided. All work is carried out by the family of the owners of the farm. There are no expenses for the purchase of seeds either, there are potatoes for planting in the personal household.

It is planned to spend about 3,000 rubles on fertilizers and the fight against Colorado potato beetles. That is, the total cost will be 70,000 rubles.

About 250 kg of potatoes are harvested from one hundred square meters of land. This means that the planned harvest will be about 7500 kg. With a potato price of 20 rubles per kg (it is planned to sell to wholesalers), the income from the enterprise will be 150,000 rubles.

Potato packaging

Selected clean and packaged potatoes cost about twice as much as dirty potatoes in ordinary bags. Therefore, it is advisable to pack the potatoes yourself before selling them to customers.

This can be done on a small farm and on your own. The equipment that will be needed to prepare and pack potatoes is easy to find or purchase. In order to establish a small business for packing grown potatoes, you will need:

• Large containers for washing potatoes (bath).
• Uninterrupted access of water in large quantities.
• Room for drying potatoes (a canopy or barn with a slatted floor is suitable).
• Scales.
• Packing bags. The most common size is 25x40 cm. The material is dense porous polyethylene.
• Stapler for sealing bags.
• Brackets for stapler.
• A strip of cardboard measuring 25x4 cm
• Label 25x8 cm

The process of packing potatoes takes place in several stages:

• The crop is moved, and all damaged potatoes must be removed.
• Selected potatoes are soaked in a container of water.
• After an hour, the water is drained, a new one is poured. The procedure is repeated 2-3 times.
• After the last drain, the peeled potatoes are laid out to dry.
• Dried potatoes are laid out in bags, weighed, adjusted to a given weight. Usually the weight of a package with potatoes is from 2 to 4 kg.
• The upper, free part of the packaging bag is wrapped several times around the carton. This is done for rigidity.
• A label is applied over the wrapped cardboard and stapled in two or three places.
• A package with selected beautiful potatoes is ready.

Sales of finished products

Potatoes can be sold in several ways:

If you are growing potatoes in large volumes, then you should take care of oral and written agreements with wholesalers in advance. The agreement, which will spell out the terms, prices and other conditions of your cooperation, will allow you to focus on agricultural work and not worry about selling the grown crop.