Delicious STRAWBERRIES now produced in Siberia during winter - Deliciosas FRESAS (FRUTILLAS) producidas en Siberia durante el invierno

Despite the cold weather, growers in Irkutsk are managing to sell their own fruit developed in greenhouses and pollinated by foreign bees.

Picture: Angara, Maria Olennikova/ IrkutskMedia

Farmers have been selling their fresh strawberries at the Central Market in Irkutsk for 200 roubles (£2/$3) for a 150g punnet. Picture: Maria Olennikova/ IrkutskMedia

Farmers in Siberia have found a way to beat western sanctions on food by producing their own home-grown strawberries in the middle of winter. Planting them in a greenhouse in August, they bear sumptuous fruit all winter and give a plentiful supply at a time when foreign imports are normally relied upon. Growers in the Irkutsk region have even brought in bees from Israel to pollenate their plants, with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, radishes and other vegetables also produced. It is an impressive feat, given that temperatures in the region in winter tend to drop to -20C between December and February. Tatiana Skakovskaya, the chief agronomist of the Angara agricultural company, said: 'We plant the strawberries in a greenhouse in August, and they bear fruit all winter, until June.

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'We buy the strawberry seeds abroad, as well as the fertilizer and mineral wool on which the strawberries grow. We bought the seeds last year, before the crisis. Now all the prices have risen due to the currency rates. 'In our greenhouses almost the entire process is automated. The greenhouse covers an area of 1.5 hectares.' Supermarkets normally stock only strawberries from Turkey or Israel, with imports from Holland stopped following the EU sanctions last year.
The secret behind the success has been the import of Israeli bees to pollinate the plants in the greenhouses. Angara is one of the largest agricultural enterprises of the Irkutsk region, located in Ust-Ilimsk, about 890 km to the north from the capital Irkutsk. Despite the distance, the company manages to bring fresh vegetables and dairy products to the city. Farmers have been selling their fresh strawberries at the Central Market in Irkutsk for 200 roubles (£2/$3) for a 150g punnet. The secret behind the success has been the import of Israeli bees to pollinate the plants in the greenhouses, with an increase of 15 per cent in productivity as a result of their introduction.

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In many regions of Siberia strawberries are quite common in summer, as many gardeners and farmers sell the berries on the local markets. In winter supermarkets normally stock only strawberries from Turkey or Israel. The sale of local produce has been welcomed within the community, with one forum for mothers and pregnant women highlighting their concerns about imported food. The women were worried about chemicals sprayed on fruit and vegetables being brought in from China and are now recommending everyone buys local produce from Angara.
Source: http://siberiantimes.com