The "Osintorf" branch of RUP "Vitebskenergo" has mastered a new peat production technology

– This is an export-oriented product for the manufacture of specific soils, – says the workshop head Andrey Gavrilenkov. – The uniqueness of cut peat lies in its high ability to absorb and retain moisture. It is produced by cutting blocks from a peat deposit with a special mechanism. Products made from cut peat have an ideal fibrous and lumpy structure for growing plants.

From the sale of the new type of product, it is planned to receive about 45 thousand rubles as early as 2019. In total, 4 thousand tons of cut peat will be produced per season.

In the meantime, Osintorf and Dubrovno peat diggers are working at the "Osinovskoye" deposit. Currently, the workshop operates 307 hectares. By the way, over 80 years ago, more than ten thousand workers were required for the Osinovskoye swamps, where the first domestic power plant, BelGRES, was built. They were recruited from all over the country, settled in 11 specially built "numbered" villages, to which narrow-gauge railways were laid. The first housed a hospital, the second – a club, the eighth – a kindergarten. And the center of the international settlement of peat diggers became the former village of Ostrov, renamed Osintorf. A school, a library, a canteen, and an outpatient clinic were built there.

Today, the enterprise's staff consists of 35 people. The same number of units of equipment are on the balance sheet. They produce milled peat for dust combustion, peat for compost preparation, lump peat – for heating needs of the population and utility enterprises, and soils for plant nutrition.

In 2018, more than 30 thousand tons of peat were extracted (up to 800 tons can be processed per day!). Fuel peat is sold to UP ZhKH "Dubrovno-Kommunalnik", the mini-CHP plant "Baran", and is transported to BelGRES.

Last year, the profit from the sale of "Osintorf" products amounted to 75.4 thousand rubles.

This is 106% of the 2017 level. The plans for 2019 include generating at least 126 thousand rubles in sales profit.

Peat is extracted from the Osinovskoye bogs using the layer-milling method, which was invented back in the Soviet era.

– The plot is cut around the perimeter with channels, water is pumped out, and all vegetation on the surface is uprooted, – says Andrey Gavrilenkov. – This preparation takes three to four years.

Machines enter the prepared plots (as the areas are called). First, the peat is milled to a depth of 3-4 cm. Then it is dried in the sun, after which a tractor with a tedder follows the same path – it turns over the peat so that it dries on the other side. This is done twice. The tedder collects the loose peat into a windrow.

The extraction cycle is two days. Then harvesting and stacking machines take over, which stack the product. There are 23 peat harvesting cycles from the plots per season, with a layer of 50-60 cm removed.

– I never thought I would connect my life with peat extraction, – says Dmitry Korolev, a young specialist at the enterprise. – But I took a liking to this work. The considerate attitude of competent management, good working conditions, and one of the highest salaries in the district are also important.

By the way, over the past 3 months of the current year, it has increased by 21%.

A native of Dubrovno, a graduate of the land management faculty of the Belarusian Agricultural Academy, he has been working in the workshop for the first year. He has been entrusted with the responsible position of foreman. Dmitry is involved in field preparation, drying, sales, and product delivery.

"Vitebskiye Vesti". Photos from the newspaper and free sources.