Purple Sea and Amphibious Tractors. How Cranberries are Harvested in Polesie

Cranberries are a real treasure trove of vitamins: they strengthen immunity, protect blood vessels, and help prevent infections. In "Parakhonskoye," this superfood is grown on 80 hectares. Harvesting began in the last days of September.

«Cranberries do not tolerate over-dried soils or waterlogging. They grow on soils with a groundwater level of about 20–30 cm. The beds are flooded only before harvesting. The berries are collected, and the water is drained back,» explained Alexander Savila, head of the "Polesie Cranberries" production section.

The Polesie residents started harvesting this "red gold" this autumn a little later than last year. The weather, including a prolonged spring, affected the berry ripening season. Specialists note that recently every year brings extreme conditions for crop production: there are recurrent frosts and a lack of moisture. It causes a lot of stress.

Several farms in Belarus are involved in cranberry cultivation. In the Pinsk district, they grow in beds, and a semi-mechanized wet method is used for their harvesting. No one else in the country uses such a method. The advantage is in speed and efficiency, as manual berry picking takes a lot of time, and losses are significantly lower.

«The evening before, we open the sluices and flood the beds. We start working in the morning — by evening, the bed is already harvested. For threshing, we have 4–5 tractors, one unit on the conveyor for collecting cranberries from the bed, and one tractor for transport. Nothing complicated,» said the section head.

Павялічыць

In the water, roaring their engines, amphibious tractors diligently work. They move one after another, threshing the bushes with red berries. Inside, they are hollow, so they float on the surface like buoys. The machinery spends seven hours a day in the water, so special attention is paid to its maintenance.

«Sometimes, chains break. We usually bring spare parts with us and change them immediately. For example, if it breaks in the water, we help each other, repair it, and continue working,» shared tractor driver Oleg Lavrenko.

This year, he saw the cranberry harvesting process from a different perspective. Previously, he transported them for sorting. He also had to rethink his gear.

«Naturally, water gets into the tractor cabin. So I dress warmly; warm socks are essential here. I wear high rubber boots,» the man noted.

Павялічыць

After threshing, the cranberries are pulled closer to the shore with pontoons and loaded onto a trailer via a conveyor. The next stage is sorting. On the conveyor, the berries are cleaned of stuck leaves and blades of grass, and spoiled ones are discarded. Beautiful, firm, and glossy ones go into boxes for sale or freezing.

Alexander Shalamitsky works as a gardener. Throughout the year, he performs a variety of tasks. For cranberry sorting, he is an operator.

«In winter, we prune blueberries, removing excess branches. In spring, we plant. Then the currant harvest begins with a combine, and for highbush blueberries, it's manual picking. This is followed by quince harvesting, and immediately after that, cranberry harvesting begins. Afterwards, we tidy up the plantations and do more planting. In winter, it's pruning again. And so it goes in a cycle,» described the villager.

The season of purple water carpets is expected to continue until the end of October. During this time, "Parakhonskoye" intends to complete the cranberry harvest.

The farm also cultivates other berry crops. The economics of each is carefully calculated.

«The situation prompts us to move towards increasing blackcurrant acreage. We moved away from manual harvesting by acquiring a combine. In the near future, we plan to plant 30 hectares of blackcurrants and update the highbush blueberry plantations. Soil and field preparation is already underway,» said Alexander Savila.

Павялічыць

According to him, the demand for berries is considerable. For example, for a buyer of highbush blueberries, the size and taste of the berries are important. Therefore, the farm aims to work with a variety of cultivars, growing from early to late, to extend the harvest period. Industrial processors are interested in blackcurrants because they are a natural dye and flavoring. This year, they were also sold retail: they sold like hotcakes.

Overall, the Brest region is currently experiencing a berry boom. More and more areas in the region are being allocated for orchards and berry fields. Farms and farmers grow highbush blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, garden strawberries, cranberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, and chokeberries. They are also looking into other crops. Behind this rich diversity lies hard work to delight buyers with appetizing and delicious berries.

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