Agrischool in Yakutia supports organic horticulture

FAO is actively involved in food and nutrition education, with special emphasis on the school system: students, their families, teachers, school administrators, local farmers, caterers, food vendors and government officials.

School gardens can not only provide food for school canteens but can also help students develop a sustainable approach to food production and consumption, provide useful agricultural labour skills and serve as a platform for sharing experiences.

In general, schools play a unique role in ensuring healthy nutrition and student capacity development. Food and nutrition education is an increasingly important component of national education programmes, as well as of countries’ school feeding and health policy.

As part  World Food Day celebrations, Varvara Parilova, a consultant at the FAO Moscow Office, interviewed Miron Okorokov, Director of the Agricultural School in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia, Russian Federation).

As a native resident of the Rassolodinsky nasleg (agricultural community in Yakutia), Miron Okorokov himself is a graduate of this agrischool. For more than seven years, he has been working in the field – he teaches Yakut language and literature, and several other subjects in primary schools. Before being appointed director of the agrischool, which caters for about 100 students, he had worked in the Polytechnic Lyceum of Yakutsk as a primary schoolteacher and school facilitator.

He shared with our audience his views on the history and present-day activities of the school.

Varvara Parilova: – Miron, I heard that this school is very special. How did the idea of turning a regular school into an agrischool come about, and when did it happen?

Miron Okorokov: – It all started in 1999, when our school chose to specialize in agricultural technologies, although before that it was an ordinary general education school. At the time, Klavdia Mikhailova was the director of the school. In 2000, a boarding school was opened. Since then, we have accumulated over 20 years of experience in growing vegetable crops. What exactly motivated us to this specialization? The desire to preserve our small school. We now have the status of an agrischool, and thanks to that we receive support.

Photo: © Viktoria Artemieva, Municipal Autonomous Educational Institution “Rassoloda Solovyov Secondary General School” Megino-Kangalassky Ulus (a municipal district)

Varvara Parilova:– Do you have specialized subjects in agriculture and food in your curriculum?

Miron Okorokov: – Yes, we have separate subjects that are studied additionally during extra-hours. These are subjects such as floriculture, vegetable growing, tractor engineering and motor vehicle engineering.

Varvara Parilova:– What profile activities are organized at the school? Maybe there are master classes?

Miron Okorokov: – Of course, we hold such events, especially in the summer. Our students and their parents actively help us during this period. We teach children basic farming skills that will help them secure food for the future, and also organize discussions about nutrition with school children.

Photo: © Viktoria Artemieva, Municipal Autonomous Educational Institution “Rassoloda Solovyov Secondary General School” Megino-Kangalassky Ulus (a municipal district)

Primary school pupils help in the school garden, in greenhouses, water flowers, take care of tomatoes, whereas senior pupils are engaged in large fields, on arable land, where they take care of carrots, potatoes, cabbage.

Photo: © Viktoria Artemieva, Municipal Autonomous Educational Institution “Rassoloda Solovyov Secondary General School” Megino-Kangalassky Ulus (a municipal district)

Varvara Parilova: – What do you grow besides carrots and cabbage, and how do you then sell these products?

Miron Okorokov: – We also grow traditional products (cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes), but at the same time we try to develop other crops (berries, for example, strawberries). We have now ended our grape growing experiment. We have already received our first small harvest. We have proved that that it can grow in such a large succulent volume under our conditions. Next, we plan to expand our work in this direction, but for this we need to first purchase a smart greenhouse or launch a year-round agrilaboratory.

Photo: © Victoria Artemieva, Municipal Autonomous Educational Institution “Rassoloda Solovyov Secondary General School” Megino-Kangalassky Ulus (a municipal district)

We calculate the volume in advance and keep most of it at our disposal. Our organic products go to school meals, and we sell the surplus.

Varvara Parilova:– Do you have any after-school programmes or any projects on traditional activities, for example, berry picking, fishing, horse breeding? 

Miron Okorokov: – Yes, we have the “Young Field Masters” project. This project is focused on horse breeding and fishing. As for fishing, from December to January teachers together with students fish on the Lena River. I would like to note that we carry out these activities in the cold winter period in compliance with all safety rules. Then, from this fish we prepare traditional dietary cutlets, and from the skin burbot we make various products. Children see unlimited opportunities in using fish. In the future, we plan to make combs of burbot bone.

Photo: © Viktoria Artemieva, Municipal Autonomous Educational Institution “Rassoloda Solovyov Secondary General School” Megino-Kangalassky Ulus (a municipal district)

Varvara Parilova: – You mentioned the “Young Field Masters” project, is it some kind of movement or an initiative of yours?

Miron Okorokov: – The "Young Field Masters" project is an idea of ours, which we have come up with in our school. It covers several subprojects, including vegetable growing. The project aims to address the twin challenges of food security and education, introducing the benefits of healthy eating both at home and at school. Thus, we try to educate young field masters.

Varvara Parilova: – How do modern technologies help you in organizing your school vegetable garden and producing agricultural products? What innovations do you apply, for example, in cultivation?

Miron Okorokov: – Yes, during the school year we do research, students study seeds, learn which varieties take root better. There are still small gaps in scientific practice, but they will soon be addressed.

Photo: © Viktoria Artemieva, Municipal Autonomous Educational Institution “Rassoloda Solovyov Secondary General School” Megino-Kangalassky Ulus (a municipal district)

Varvara Parilova: – What distinguishes graduates of your profile school from graduates of other general education schools?

Miron Okorokov: – Graduates of our school are more prepared for independent life; we cover several areas, so after graduation they already have the skills for several professions.

Varvara Parilova: – How do you think agrifood systems can be improved?

Miron Okorokov: – By increasing volumes, if we are talking about products, expanding the species diversity of vegetable crops, varieties and, of course, IT technologies that are applied in the agricultural sector, and upgrading technologies.

Varvara Parilova: – How do you plan to develop the specialisation in agriculture for teachers and students in the future? What are your plans?

Miron Okorokov: – We have many plans. In the coming years, we want to purchase a smart greenhouse for scientific activity, do research, implement students’ and teachers’ projects, and improve the quality of our products. As for agriculture, we recently received projects to modernize our arable land – we intend to install new hydraulic water supply systems there. There are still very few of them in the Republic of Sakha.

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Learn more:

• Activity book – Water is life, water is food
• World Food Day Poster Contest
• School Food and Nutrition
• FAO School Food and Nutrition Framework
• The power of unity. Schools and farmers are helping each other

Five benefits of school gardens

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The views expressed in this information product belong to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).