600 Meskhetian Turks can't feed all Ingushetia

Authorities propose changes in forms of ownership to lift agriculture out of depression

During my visit to Nazran’s central market, I was surprised at the high prices of fruit and vegetables, which were also all imported. The same products are much cheaper in Vladikavkaz, even though Ingushetia's soil is very fertile and the majority of the land consists of rich black soil. Thousands of hectares of land are very well irrigated, especially the highland area around the Nazran and Sunzhen districts. The land in north-western parts of the Sunzhen and Malgobek districts near the Alkhan-Churt canal were very well irrigated in Soviet times. Some areas brought in two harvests a year. In the 1970s and 80s record-breaking harvests, especially of vegetables and fruit, were reaped there.

'The land of Ingushetia is very fertile. Ever since we came here we have been planting vegetables and fruit most of the time, we keep farms and make a living this way', said Binali Khalilov, a deputy of Malgobek town council and leader of the local national and cultural Autonomy of Meskhetian Turks of Ingushetia "Akhskha". "Akhskha", meaning 'new castle' is the name of the capital of the Meskhetian Turks ( today this is the city of Akhaltsike in Georgia). It was founded after Turks conquered this land in 1554. In 1828 this territory became part of the Russian Empire and in 1944 about 120 thousand Meskhetian Turks were deported by Stalin to Central Asia. After the tragic events of 1989, five thousand Meskhetian Turks came to Ingushetia, to the stanitsa, or large village, of Voznesenskaya and "old" Malgobek. They all occupied themselves with the thing they were used to - farming. Young and old worked in the field.

Today, due to the political situation in the republic, there are little more than 600 Meskhetian Turks in Ingushetia. 'Soil and water are the only things one needs to have a good harvest. But farming has lost its prestige. Everyone has gone into "business". Everyone wants easy money. Anything that was left over from previous times has simply been stolen' - Binali Khalilov says.

In 1992, when the Republic of Ingushetia was founded, the total area of ploughed field was 110 thousand hectares (0.39 hectares for each inhabitant) which was enough to feed everybody. Today there are 18 thousand hectares less ploughed field, a decline of more than 1000 hectares a year. According to expert opinion, this is a result of bad land tenure policy, of uncontrolled selling and distribution of land. There are now only 0.16 hectares of land for each inhabitant. This is also the result of an increase in population of 75-80%. The rest of the ploughed land us used in quite an irrational way. No less than 25% of it is not fully used and is overgrown. Any new developments would require a lot of investment - 10-15 thousand roubles per hectare. A deep food crisis in the republic is evident from the small amount of local produce on offer.

'More than one harvest a year will help our farms will overcome the crisis and stabilise', says the deputy farming minister of Ingushetia, Ayup Tutayev. Planting vegetables and fruit has always been the main part of farming in Ingushetia. The areas of ploughed fields in the republic are bounded. Increasing the harvest is possible only through intensification of farming. The soil has become much poorer over the last few years, as mineral fertilizers have not been used'

Farming is still a depressed sector of the region’s economy. The state is proposing to change the concept of development of the agricultural sector by revising forms of property and abandoning unprofitable state enterprises. Production of vegetables and fruit can not be viable without restructuring. 'These enterprises give us nothing but debts and tormented cattle' - the head of the government Alaxey Vorobyev says.

VK information

Per capita production 2008, according to the data of the Ecology Council of Ingushetia:

meat - 5-6 kg (compared to norm of 74, average Russian level - 47,5 kg)
milk - 140,4 kg (norm 385,average Russian level - 230 kg)
grain - 120 kg (norm for bread only - 200, average Russian level - 700 kg)
potatoes - 44 kg (norm 140 kg)
sunflower oil - 3,4 kg (norm 28 kg)

The portion of Ingush products in the entire Ingush market is about 10-12%. With rational use of land resources this portion could be much bigger.

Pavel Tsoroyev, exclusively for VK