SIA “Kruki” — traditional but stable

In order to get to Kruku village, turning from Maltas to Viļānu highway, the seventeen-and-a-half kilometres must go through a fairly rutted ground. Its asphalation had been planned several years ago, but the plans were dismantled by the crisis, and now the warmth on this state-owned road is not particularly demanding. Silmalas parish is the largest municipality in Rēzekne, which formed in 1990 by combining four villages of the Council – Silmalas, Culku, Kruku and Ruijing. It is important that the people of here expressed their willingness to continue to host together during the land reform of the 90 s. On the basis of the law on the privatisation of former sovhoz and colhose land, SIA “Daugavvieši” was formed in the territory of the former kolhoza “Krasnoje Zamja” (“red flag”), while part of the colhoza “Leninec” was converted into SIA “Kruki” IN February 1992, where we are visiting this time.
Land is processed
SIA “Kruki” is treated around 1100 ha of land and, indeed, at least in the roadside, unprocessed and closed fields are not visible. Today, 130 ha of seed rape, 370 ha – cereals, the rest are permanent grassland because the farm also deals with dairy farming. SIA “Kruki” employs 80 people, although, as the Chairman of the Board Ivan Koņuhov acknowledges, it is mainly a seasonal work. “Many work part-time, especially farm workers. Wages – unfortunately only the minimum, because we don't pay so much for the production produced so we can afford more. The costs are also high enough – fuel, electricity, mineral fertilizer. 'At the end of the year, general meetings of owners shall be held, where the Management Board shall be accountable for the results of the annual work and a further work is planned, all decisions shall be taken by a majority. If the holding is profit-making, dividends are paid to the owners. Inkoov says that they are negligible.
On the question of why the warriors chose such a way of farming, MR Koņuhov thinks that the principle of inertia might have been working at that time. “There are also holdings in other regions of Latvia, such as SIA“ Tērvete ”, where the land reform did not divide the land, but decided to process it together, now it is a holding farm. They decided it was better, we also. Maybe we acted like an inertia to be like before. People have a job, don't have to slap around the parish house and have to ask for benefits. With one word, we don't live rich, but we live. '
The implementation of projects should be decided jointly
Intensive farming in the countryside, currently not even conceivable without modern agricultural techniques, SIA “Kruki” has gradually restored its technical park by these two decades, both by taking credit and leasing and by implementing projects financed by the European Union totalling around 200 thousand lats. There is no separate project specialist in the holding, which is handled by a accountant who is well-guided in complex project labyrinth, but not all projects are consistent with the collective farming form. “Not all projects are eligible, and if there is a large scale project, then big harmonisation starts, paper stuff. We don't have one owner, but there are many owners, around 100, they are all former owners who have joined SIA. Not as simple as the individual farmer. '
Stick to old frames
Ivan Koņuhov is an engineer for the profession of SIA since 1995. The current Board of SIA is active in the current college specialists. “This is the old bitterness, the experience, the collective consciousness, we have worked together, and we are now together.” Young? Well, there are people until the age of 35, working in farms, about tractors, but little. What do other Silmalas young people do? Both their holdings shall be maintained and taken abroad or in the profit of Riga. There are also those who do not fall in love. “Ivan laughs that the government, raising the age of retirement, has made sure that the old specialists work longer.“ That's what we're young now, now i still have a lot of pensions. ”But the problems are with young frames, there is no longer the quality of the work, they are quite different people than we were. They don't know anything yet, but the people, how much i'm going to get SIA! The elders, who are dragging at their minimum, realize that nothing more is going to be done, but they don't want to do it anymore. '
Farms – from Soviet times
Despite the fact that this spring, MR Koņuhov acknowledged that he had been successful, the winter had not been sown, as in many places in Zemgale. This year, 30 ha of flax, which will be transferred to the Rēzekne flax refinery. The President commends good cooperation with the co-operative “Latraps”, through which cereals and rapeseed are marketed. There are several livestock farms in the holding, but they are all built in Soviet times, sometimes even in the 60 s of the 20 th century. The construction of new farms is acute, but it does not exist for the time being.
For future plans and visions, I.Koņuhov refuses to judge. “It depends first of all on ourselves, from our pawn owners. But in agriculture, big plans will not be forged, so much depends on God, from favourable or unfavourable weather. As well as the prices on the world stock exchange for agricultural production, they were very good in 2012, but they had fallen considerably last year, as it would be this autumn. '
There is no longer a free agricultural land in Silverland, also SIA “Kruci” around 100 ha of land from owners, mostly from old people who do not have the power to process it. “We're paying them a hire, and we're working on our price.” But in general, all the land is occupied, all cultivated, which we have not taken ourselves, is handled by foreigners – Danish, Swedish. '
Parish relies on great-owners
On Monday, THERE are many people in the administrative building of SIA Kruki, the local government specialists, social workers, agricultural consultant, cashier, so that the village residents can settle their issues without driving to the parish centre. Silmalas parish management manager Eduards Grisublonks acknowledges that it is more advantageous. Most of SIA “Kruki” administrative building has also been transferred to the parish.
The head of the parish administration for the activities of the large agricultural enterprises in Silverbank is very positive. “There are also farms, both bigger and smaller, but they are, however, weaker than SIA. Since“ Kruku ”had previously been a famous flax-growing colleague, they had inherited this experience, there was work for professionals with higher education, engineers, agronomists, zootechnicians, veterinarian. SIA“ Daugavvieši ”is also working hard, there are more younger specialists. Agriculture is not an easy work, especially for us, where soil is not like Zemgale, there is a yield of 8-9 tons of grain from ha, to us well if four, four and a half. I once asked one farmer of Zemgale, as he was getting a new technique, then he said that on average 6 tons of each hectare were returned to the bank for credit. But what do we give to us? '
However, the Old Believers' village, Kruki, is stubborn. Maybe it's related to the village name, which is often wrong. “We're not cops, but Kruki – hooks!” In the area of Pleskava there is also a Sandy Kruki. Maybe from there our ancestors had come about three hundred years ago who knew it. “But we don't see ourselves as entrants, we're local,”
Anna Rancāne