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Monday, 30.05.2011
Russian dacha ensures survival and livelihood
Moscow. Back to the roots: In May begins the dacha season. Millions of city dwellers are on their way to the country, Russia will return to agriculture. The dacha is not only a place for recreation, but also used to grow their own products.
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It's a race against time: The first "Babushkas", old women, are standing on the road side, offering fresh greens, to supplement their meager pensions.
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In the small greenhouse on the dacha, they will have thawed the frozen ground with hot water and used the first gentle sun rays for growing green onions, dill and parsley.
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In May the dacha season begins
Later on in the season they will be offering flowers, apples, potatoes and berries. But that's when the competition starts and that from Millions of Russians at the same time.With the May holidays mark (May 1st, as well as May 9th, Victory Day) traditionally the beginning of the dacha season in Russia.
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In the short summer months, Russians turn into peasants and work hard on the fields, despite an urbanisation rate of 75 percent.
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Dacha, the dream of happiness
Even in Soviet times, the dacha, the cottage in the country, is a personal dream of happiness for most Russians. Traveling abroad did not exist then. But the next generation is attracted by the country too.
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According to statistics, one in three Moscow household own a dacha, in most provincial towns around 25percent own one.
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| Kebab in the open is one of the joys having a dacha, but life there is also a lot of work | |
Between kebab and hadr field work
At the same time as the new upper Middle Class is relaxing from the strains of the week with barbequeing kebab on their manicured English lawn, the dacha means work for the majority of the population. Until September they are in non-stop planting and harvesting mood.
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According to the polling institute VTsIOM, 69 percent of Russians use the dacha as a production facility for their own food needs. During the crisis year 2009 this number rose to 81 percent.
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Allotment as the most important vegetable producer in Russia
According to Andrey Tumanov, the head of the Association of Moscow gardeners, without these gardeners food security in Russia would not be guaranteed. Although they produce no grain, but are essencial for the fruit and vegetable production. The dacha workers provide the country with 90 percent of the potatoes, "said Tumanov. More than half of fresh fruit and vegetable supply in Russia is produced in the small gardens.
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Fruit, especially apples and berries are pickled or processed into juice. Especially in small towns the residents store goods for the winter. This habit started in the wild 90s when the Government was practically bankrupt and theachers, civil servants and pensioners did not get paid for months. During this time the dacha was a lifeline.
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Dacha during the crisis more than welcome
However, the short-term memory of the Russians still has some unpleasant memories in store: during the recent finance crisis they had to experience that the prosperous years could suddenly come to an end. It was no coincidence that especially during the summer months the unempolyment rate had gone down.
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Many Russians prefer to work in the dacha to waiting in the corridors of the employment offices. Even as the crisis has passed, Russians will plant again fruit and vegetables in their dachas. It is healthy and tasts better. And this they know for sure.
The German text is here >>>
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