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According to Danguolė Kuzmienė, the organizer of the self-government of the Chamber of Agriculture in the Panevėžys and Kupiškis districts, the head of the Panevėžys branch of the Lithuanian Farmers Union, there are still beets, carrots, onions and mainly potatoes considered as the second Lithuanian bread.
“The worst thing is that the educational institutions did not work during the quarantine; many farmers had contracts with them, but could not fulfill them, so the production was not carried out. Still a bit poignant unless you trade in onion. The situation is bad, but not tragic ”, says D. Kuzmienė.
Hopefully the farmers are recovering from the coffees; they are trying to sell them at least a part of last year’s harvest.
“We should be glad that there are not many gardeners as planters in the Panevėžys district,” admits D. Kuzmienė.
Barrels full of potatoes
According to the representative of the farmers of the Panevėžys region, no vegetable grower has yet said that they are transporting to pull the harvest. Although vegetables from last year are still being sold, Mr. Kuzmienė does not rule out that some of them may need to be written off.
“It just came to our knowledge then. The bad thing is that the quarantine started in December, when there is a boom in the purchase of potatoes for the winter,” says D. Kuzmienė.
According to her, the longer the vegetables stay in the stables, the lower their quality. The gardeners’ hope of selling the harvest is also spoiled by the fact that fresh vegetables are already being transported from hot countries.
According to D. Kuzmienė, farmers are still looking for ways to sell their products. Some of them are also transported to charities. However, this method requires additional transportation costs.
“It’s a good job to earn karma points for the world,” jokes the farmer representative.
Having arrived in spring with full barns, the farmers of the Panevėžys district are not willing to reduce the area of vegetables, unless they grow more diverse ones.
“A gardener will not plant orchards with grain,” says D. Kuzmienė.
Charity is too expensive
Farmer Milda Mikelionienė from the Upytė region grows about 60 hectares of vegetables. He sold Chinese cabbage through supermarkets. The gardener still hopes to sell potatoes as well. However, some of the onion and beets will remain unrealized.
“When they ask us, we take it to charity, but we do not offer it ourselves, because we are not that rich, it is difficult to sort the vegetables and take them. After all, no one is coming to pick you up from home. It is easier to compost and less fertilizers will be needed ”, says M. Mikelionienė.
In the past, the farmer did not have difficulty selling the products, but during the pandemic, the wholesale of catering establishments fell, the wholesale trade of vegetables fell and the market is not the outlet for a large farm: dozens of tons will not be sold there.
“The quarantine will end, life will get back on track. I don’t think children are going to study remotely for four or five years,” hopes M. Mikelionienė.
Carrots
The little ones have been beaten
According to Zofija Cironkienė, director of the Lithuanian Vegetable Growers Association, farmers who have contracted with canteens and kindergartens are often smaller and do not have storage facilities where adequate production can be maintained until late spring. Those with large and good storage facilities have adapted to COVID-19 and exported as much production as possible. Producers that large have almost no harvest last year.
“There are no more high-quality vegetables and the remaining products are low-quality,” says Z. Cironkienė.
According to her, if the vegetables are not suitable for trade, they are not suitable for charity. They are found in organic factories, feed for livestock farms.
Living in uncertain conditions for the second year, according to the director of the association, changing one production to another, perhaps more in demand, is also difficult. The demand for so-called niche vegetables is low, they also need specialized storage, which would mean additional investments for the farmer. Even potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, according to Z. Cironkienė, will not be stored in storage at the same time; They need separate chambers with different temperature regimes.
Accepted and non-standard
Irma Zabulionytė, director of Panevėžys SOS Children’s agency, says she is grateful for every kilogram of vegetables, only that they are rarely offered. Every day, the agency that feeds several dozen disadvantaged people solicits and seeks such charity.
According to I. Zabulionytė, there are several farmers who do not refuse to ask, to bring some bags of various vegetables. The institution itself does not have the facilities to store many vegetables, they store them in the garage. The stocks poured into it are already running low and I. Zabulionytė has to turn to the farmers with outstretched hand again. According to her, even ugly-looking vegetables that don’t meet quality standards are fit for human consumption and the soup kitchen is always waiting for you.
The manager finds that farmers sometimes take the easy route by simply closing the unpurchased vegetables rather than donating them. According to I. Zabulionytė, his charity would even take care of bringing such charity.
The Panevėžys soup kitchen “Betliejus” also receives benefactors. S t. Patrick Skrudupis, the head of Joseph’s care home, says that last year private farmers and donors delivered more than 100 kilograms of beets, cabbage, carrots, more than 60 kilograms of onions, 260 kilograms of apples.
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