MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS Correspondent Ulyana Bakumenko/. Everyone in Anadyr seems to know Anatoly Tuntin, a farmer. I did not have to go online to get to his house, as people in the street easily gave directions. Anatoly for almost 40 years has been working in agriculture on the Chukchi Peninsula. He refuses to use new fashionable ways of growing vegetables, saying only plowed and fertilized soil can give true taste to vegetables and make them valuable. The best treat for people living in Chukotka is not a cake or candies. The best treat is a kilo of crispy cucumbers, or a sweet watermelon.
Tasty
Work at his farm continues day and night. "Normally, my staff is 10-20 people, but, for example, during the salmon fishing season, some of them in the morning may work hard at the construction, and in the evening I 'fish' them from river shores. That's an Arctic 'headhunting'. I don't think in any other region the staff may dare this, but I anyway do put up with them," he said with a kind smile.
The people working at the farm are not afraid of him, that's right. When talking about the owner, they call him "Uncle Tolya," and they are never shy to ask for assistance. Mostly, about money: one is short of money to send the son to study, another one asks for an early payment to make ends meet. It's essential to share concerns of the people, the farmer said. Without it, they would be unable to grow anything good and tasty.
Fresh vegetables, tomatoes, zucchinis, and aromatic greens, which Anatoly supplies to Anadyr and its suburbs, are sold out in hours. No doubts - they are tasty. Always.
"Before the Perestroika, I was a mechanic at the Serverny (Northern) state-run farm. We were harvesting fodder for cattle in drained tundra lakes. Later, everything broke up. In 1993, we rented a land plot, bought some more land and put up first greenhouses. In the Soviet years, that area was used as a place to fatten young bulls. Back then, we relied on fertility. It turns out, we were right," she farmer said showing us around the premises.
Against all odds
Recent years have been crucial for the family. At first, the coronavirus, which killed the son, with whom Anatoly was developing the business. The biggest grief parents may suffer was followed by another shock: in March, 2022, the year-round greenhouse of about 400 square meters burned to the ground. The fire destroyed everything: the LED lamps, irrigation system, the crops. But the farmer did not give in and set a goal - to restore everything within a short Arctic summer.
"For example, in summer, when it's plus 15 outside, it is 38-40 inside the greenhouses. In winter, we use electricity heaters, and the regional government helps us greatly with paying the bills. Last year, for example, we collected about 75 tons, but then the trouble came - the main winter greenhouse burned down. We are reconstructing it actively," he said.
In best seasons, the farm had crops of about 40 items - from more or less regular cucumbers and tomatoes to exotic for Chukotka eggplants, melons and watermelons. Due to financial problems, the farmer had to cut the production, but in recent years the farm has recovered and in 2021 it became a year-round enterprise - with essential state incentives the businessman can grow fresh greens and crispy cucumbers even when the air temperatures are minus 30 degrees.
Every week, Anatoly sends to Anadyr and neighboring villages about 300 kilograms of products. "We normally do not have extra products, but if we do have any - then our shop pickles them," he told us.
Never in a hurry
With a touch of special care, Anatoly tells us about the simple system of his greenhouses. Everything, what professional farmers "on the mainland" take for granted, here, in the Far North, is next to impossible.
Tin boxes with airy soil are inside wooden greenhouses that take about 3,000 square meters. The soil remains productive for several years - the employees every year rotate the plants. The farmer is not shy, but rather proud, to say his farm's approach is that of the 1970s - back then, he said, professionals knew very well how to grow vegetables.
"Modern technologies or white bonnets, like in best labs, is not what we have. But does it matter if our results are above expectations? Sure, we would love to have more automatic devices - look, we water plants holding hoses. We take water from a lake nearby, thus all day long we are literally in the soil to the very top. We dream about drip irrigation and climate control, but anyway, everything comes gradually. You know that people are never in a hurry in Chukotka, don't you?" he asked, laughing.
He is positive not to use hydroponic methods (a method where growing plants are fed from a solution surrounding their roots - TASS).
"It was a common decision. My son and I believe any new fashionable stuff is able to feed plants better than plowed and fertilized soil. Try our tomato. Within our short Arctic summer it greedily absorbs all the taste and becomes so valuable," the farmer offers me a tomato.
Value for everyone
It is absolutely out of question to refuse the offer. Here, in Chukotka, this treat is too special. Just imagine: a kilo of cucumbers here even in summer may cost 600 rubles ($10), and tomatoes - up to 750 rubles ($12). These are prices in large supermarkets. In small kiosks, the locals say, prices are a bit lower. In Chukotka, the wealth is judged not by the model of a car or by jewelry, but rather by what vegetables a person chooses in the store.
Due to the state support, Anatoly can afford keeping the cucumber prices at "acceptable" 380 rubles ($6.3) a kilo in summer. However, the vegetables can become more affordable only if he builds up the business, the farmer said.
"At the high season, up to 20 people are working in my five greenhouses. They could serve twice as much space, but I pay to them "Chukotka" money for work at the available facilities. This, among other things, explains the products' high costs. I dream to live to the day, where our vegetables become affordable for everyone, and all the idle land plots will be occupied by modern greenhouses," the farmer said, sharing his plans.
After we visited the greenhouse complex, three months later, the regional agriculture department said the burned greenhouse had been reconstructed. The local authorities' reserve fund had allocated 15 million rubles ($249,000) to support the business.
"We now consider additional incentives for purchase and shipment of heating equipment, lamps and irrigation systems," the department said. "The greenhouse will be put operational after all the necessary works are completed - before the year ends."
Anatoly shared the past summer season results: by October 1, the crops in his greenhouses made almost 89 tons of zucchinis, cucumbers, tomatoes and greens. This means, Chukotka's residents will enjoy even more often fresh crispy, aromatic vegetables and fruit.