Rosselkhozbank's "Farmer's School" opened at Mari State University
In 25 regions of the country the fourth stage of the educational project "Farmer's school" has started. It is the largest joint project of Russian Ministry of Agriculture and Rosselkhozbank. In 9 of them, including Mari El, the School opened its doors for the first time. With new regions joining the project, its total geography has grown to 50.
"Farmer School" is a new format of Russian agrarian education thanks to which it is really possible to create an agribusiness "from scratch". You can come to our school to study as a doctor or engineer, and come out as a farmer. There is no exaggeration here. Many of our graduates have already had such "transformation". The project is a little over a year old, and today we can say with confidence that the format is in demand. Competition reaches 5 people per place. The school has covered 50 regions of Russia. And the number of students has reached almost 2,000", Boris Listov, Chairman of the Management Board of Rosselkhozbank, said to the project participants.
"The Farmer's School" for the first time opened its doors in the Altai Territory, Republics of Adygeya and Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod and Tomsk regions. It is also the first time that Mari El joins Rosselkhozbank's federal project.
In Mari El the training will be held on the basis of the Agrarian and Technological Institute of Mari State University (Mari State University) in three directions: "Beekeeping and processing of bee products", "Milk production and cheese-making", "Fruit growing, vegetable growing and processing of fruit and vegetable, berry products".
"The list of specialties for training at the "Farmer's School" is based on the relevance of specific areas of agricultural development in our region", - said the Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Mari El Andrey Kondratenko. - Thanks to the educational project beginning farmers will be able to get the necessary knowledge for implementation of their project. We will be glad if the number of farmers in the region grows. I am sure that "Farmer's School" will become an additional incentive for the development of small and medium business in the countryside".
Twenty five beginner farmers of Mari El who passed the competitive selection, within two months will study legal aspects of work of farms, financial business-models; they will get acquainted with the newest agricultural technologies. The curriculum is enriched with lectures on marketing, production of organic products, organization of distribution channels, and promotion of regional agricultural brands. Farmers will be taught theory remotely, and practice, which is very important, they will pass at the leading agricultural enterprises of the region. The course will end with the defense of business plans. The training is financed by Rosselkhozbank.
"We are glad that Rosselkhozbank has chosen our university as a partner of the project, - said the rector of Mari State University Mikhail Shvetsov - The development of the agrarian and industrial complex of Mari El and Russia on the whole is impossible without personnel. Mari State University has been training highly qualified specialists for the agroindustrial complex since 1972. The most part of workers and heads of agricultural enterprises of the region are our graduates. That is why we are glad that very soon up-to-date knowledge about production technologies in cattle breeding and plant growing will be given directly to practicing farmers of the republic, who will also receive state diplomas from the university.
According to Georgy Sergeev, Director of the Mari branch of Rosselkhozbank, the "Farmer's School" will significantly expand the competence and knowledge of entrepreneurs, and will also help open up new opportunities for their business. "Rosselkhozbank pays special attention to the development of small-scale farming," said Georgy Sergeev. - "We are glad that today we have started to actively cooperate with the farmers of the region in a new format - within the framework of the Farmer's School educational project. We expect well-designed and effective business projects from all participants of the flow".
Since its launch in September 2020, 466 students in 16 regions have completed Farmer School training in 17 unique specializations, and 45 of the most talented graduates of the second wave received grants from Rosselkhozbank and the Svoye Agrifood Fund to create and develop new small farming businesses. Now almost 800 students are continuing their studies in the third group which started on September 1.
The heads of small entities (individual private farms, household farms), individual entrepreneurs, representatives of agricultural production and processing cooperatives and students of agrarian universities starting from 18 years old who decided to start their own business on production of farm products can take part in the competitive selection.
