Potato planting law

Almost all gardeners may be affected by the new potato planting law. Therefore, it is very important to figure out whether or not you can plant potatoes from your seeds in the country. And this requires objective information about fines and a ban on planting tubers in Russia.

Since relatively recently, a new law on planting potatoes has come into force in Russia. He threatens with sanctions those who will use not specially sold and officially registered types of sowing materials, but seeds collected on their own. But there is a subtlety - not everything is so scary. The new rules prohibit not all cultivation of potatoes from their seeds in the country. They apply only to those cases when it is grown with the aim of further selling those seeds that will be obtained from the harvest.

It is precisely this nuance that is indicated by the comment of the representative of the Union of Russian Gardeners. At the same time, it is emphasized that it does not matter to whom exactly the seeds are sold, at what price and in what volume. Even if you donate the same seed to neighbors, colleagues or acquaintances, you can face a fine. But if you buy seeds in official specialized outlets, then it is easy to avoid punishment. The corresponding restrictions are enshrined in Article 10, Clause 12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

The usual practice of growing potatoes is not banned for summer residents. If they just collect the seeds and sow them in their garden the next year, then there are no penalties for this. Moreover, this moment is relevant, given that it is almost impossible to control what is actually grown on the garden plot, and what seeds were used. There are no restrictions on growing potatoes from their seeds, neither for their own consumption or storage of this very potato, nor even for the sale of tubers.

In addition, the obvious result of such a legislative innovation will be an increase in demand for branded seeds. Self-distribution of planting material disrupts this trade, thereby harming the country's economy. Reports that now will suppress the very cultivation of potatoes by private individuals do not correspond to reality. It is worth noting that the ban on the sale of one's own seeds without certification applies not only to potatoes, but also to any crops grown in agriculture in general. However, planting material of the same flowers or fruit trees is traditionally bought.

With potatoes, the situation is different: it is more customary, as everyone knows, to breed it yourself. Therefore, rumors about the ban, transmitted in a distorted and exaggerated form, so excite summer residents and gardeners. The notorious clause 10.12 of the Administrative Code has been in effect since 2010, and during this time, however, there were no reasons for alarm. The article of the law speaks of the right of the Rosselkhoznadzor to conduct spot checks, but only at wholesale warehouses, individual entrepreneurs, and peasant farms. Arranging such checks at dachas and in personal subsidiary plots is not allowed by law.

When growing potatoes for the sale of planting material, however, checks are quite possible and even logical. Their goal is to guarantee the high quality of the seeds used. If the seeds are sold commercially, they will have to be certified. For ordinary summer residents and gardeners, it makes no sense to be afraid of any claims. Moreover, even if you grow a crop from store-bought seeds exclusively (and not from your own), then selling it is completely allowed, provided that other trade, tax and sanitary standards are observed, of course.

Violators of the current legislation on growing potatoes are subject to administrative punishment. The amount of the fine for individuals is 300-500 rubles. His rate for officials can be up to 1,000 rubles. But if the rules are violated by a legal entity, then he will be assigned a fine of 5 to 10 thousand.