Investors have initiated the revival of gardens in the Adyge-Khablsky area of Karachay-Cherkesia, a quarter the century after them being announced as non-profitable and cut down. Sady Karachaevo-Cherkesii will produce over half the fruit grown in the republic, with investment totaling 800m RUB.

The authorities are confident that gardening revival will ensure meeting the internal republican demand for apples and other fruit, and developing shipments to other regions.

The orchards are based on new technology of intensive and super-intensive gardening. “We borrowed it from Europe, where countries are small with area shortage. By European classification, our gardens are super-intensive with over 3,6 k of trees per hectare. Whereas conventional gardening one ha accounts for 600-1000 trees”, — as reported by Vladimir Chernov, CEO of Sady Karachaevo-Cherkesii.

The apple megacity is divided in blocks by rows of special wires fixed at trellis linked to plants. The advantage of intensive gardens, apart from density, is in the crown form which allows light and wind on all branches, with the trees able to bear heavyweight yield due to trellis support.

A special fertigation system is adopted to avoid pests – each tree is connected to the drip irrigation system. Owing to such care, the garden yield is expected to total more than 60 t per ha against the 10 t per ha in conventional gardens.

The singularity of the project also consists in all rootstocks being grown in compliance with international standards in Russia’s major nursery in the Stavropol territory within the import substitution programme.

After reaching the full capacity, the enterprise will produce 10 k tpa of apples. For apples to be stored throughout the year, a fruit storage facility will be built.

Total investment is estimated at 800m RUB, including budget funds; with about 400m RUB already invested. At present, around 130 ha of apple tree orchards are already established. Pears, cherries and plums are afoot.

The designed capacity will be reached in approximately 5 years. The first full-fledged yield will be gathered in 2019.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Karachay-Cherkesia is sure that gardens recovery is necessary for the region. The regional agrarians cover the local demand for agriculture products, except for fruits and berries – only 13% of these products are grown in the region. The rest is imported from the Krasnodar Territory and Kabardino-Balkaria.

According to the Ministry, the project is a top-priority for the region, as it will ensure the recovery of commercial gardening in the republic. Using intensive gardening technology will allow boosted yield, high-quality produce, and loss risk mitigation.