#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The first remembered agricultural experience belongs to the 1926 expedition participants: on the bath roof, geologists made peat beds and planted salad, onions and radishes. Ten years later, vegetables and herbs were planted in both open ground and greenhouses.
In 1937, experimental polar agriculture began to be developed in Norilsk. At the site of the current stadium, cowsheds and pigsties were built.
The first tiny greenhouse appeared with an area of only 40 square meters. Here’s how the Norilsk press wrote about this:
“In 1938, the Norilsk farm became a state farm. It was a year of mass tests – whether it is possible to grow vegetables in the harsh conditions of the Arctic? Cabbage took root best. It began to be grown in open ground first. By the way, the cabbage harvest was then taken into account with the green leaf, which was the best treat. In 1938, 14.4 tons of vegetables were gathered at the state farm, of which cabbage were 1.5 tons. Along with the tundra lands development, agricultural cultivation was improved. Seedlings were grown in turf pots, vegetables were fed with mineral mixtures”.
By the mid-1940s, the Norilsk state farm on the tundra land, turnip, three types of cabbage, radish, salad, carrots, peas, beets, dill, sorrel and onion were grown. In the greenhouses, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, pepper, salad, spinach, pasternak were harvested. They experimented even with watermelons and melons.
But, although they tried to grow such necessary potatoes in Norilsk since 1939, but the result was unsatisfactory in yield and taste.
In 1945, the crop of vegetables in total was 15 tons. The territory of the Norilsk state farm, including farms, gardens and greenhouses, began from the current Veterans street and reached the Gvardeyskaya square.
By 1965, the Norilsk state farm had already become a participant in VDNH exhibition six times, where it was awarded for success two cars and a set of automatic drinkers. In those years, the state farm gave 30–40 tons of early vegetables, cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions, greenery.
In the History Spot’s previous publication, we told what household appliances adorned Norilsk apartments in different years.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Branch archive
