Agriculture in Sumy Region

Sumy region is situated in the north-east of Ukraine. Its area is 25,800 square kilometers. Steppes and plains compose the most part of Sumy region territory. The topsoils are mainly black. They are the biggest treasure of our land. That’s why agriculture is one of the most important elements in the region’s economy. This sector provides the basis for fulfilling the most basic social needs of the people. It also has a great potential for further development as a source of raw materials for regional-based food processing industry.

In Sumy region they grow sugar beet, winter wheat, winter rye, spring barley, buckwheat, millet, maize, sunflower, potatoes and other vegetables.

In field crop cultivation special attention is paid to correct crop rotation, improvement of soil tillage, the use of organic and mineral fertilizers, timely weed, pest and disease control. Another important branch of farm production in the region is animal husbandry. Animal farms specialize in meat-dairy cattle raising, poultry farming, fishing. Bee-keeping is being developed. Much work is done on the improvement of animal breeds.

The territory of Sumy region is well-supplied with water resources. The principal rivers are the Desna, the Psel, the Sula, the Seim, the Vorskla. About 15 per cent of the area is covered with forests. Natural resources are sufficient for creating a developed internal market and becoming an equal partner in the world market. Since 1990 market reforms in the agricultural complex have been progressing steadily. Responding to the decree of the President, all collective agricultural enterprises have been dissolved and reorganized into private joint stock companies. This privatization activity is expected to stimulate the development of the basic production sector. No doubt, the transition to a market economy requires a relatively long period of time. But there is every reason to believe that our country will quickly enter the family of Europe’s leading countries.

My Native Town

Sumy was founded on the 25^th of June, 1655. The founder of the town was the Ukrainian cossack Gerasim Kondratyev. When the Ukrainians struggled against the Polish landowners they had to leave their villages in the West and asked the Russian tsar to allow them to live and build the new villages on the left bank of the river Dnieper. At that very time Kondratyev headed 100 Ukrainian families. They came to the bank of the river Psel and built a settlement which they called “the Soumin town”.

Now Sumy is an administrative, economic, cultural and industrial center of the Sumy region. There are many places of interest here. In my town we have some museums: the museum of the local history, of fine arts, Chekhov’s museum and the museum of applied arts. In front of the museum of the local history there is a summer-house which was built without nails about 100 years ago by an unknown craftsman. It was the place where the musicians played music and ladies with gentlemen walked listening to it. In winter there was a skating-rink there. Now it is the landmark of our town and one of the most favourite meeting places of its inhabitants. To the left of the summer-house the museum of fine arts is situated. There are about 15000 exhibits there. You can admire the beauty of the paintings by Repin, Shyshkin, Levitan, etc. There were 12 churches in Sumy but now we have only 6. There are two theatres in our city: Shchepkin Drama and Musical Comedy Theatre and the Theatre for Young Spectators.

Sumy is a highly-developed industrial town. There are many enterprises in our town. They are: the machine building plant, the chemical plant, the pump plant, the tube plant, the steel plant, the porcelain factory, the microscope plant and some food enterprises.

Sumy is also an educational centre. It is the city of secondary comprehensive schools, grammar schools, colleges and vocational schools. There is also Musical College, Medical College, College training educators in culture. Sumy is also the city of higher education. There are 5 higher educational institutions in Sumy: Sumy National Agrarian University, Sumy State University, Sumy State Pedagogical University, Military Institute of Artillery, the Academy of Banking.