Ūkio paskola

The farmer is an owner of Berbeka Vegetable Seeds sp. z o.o. - the family-owned company which was established in 1946 by his grandfather.

The establishment of the company was inspired by a long tradition of vegetable seed cultivation and its aim is to promote, above all, traditional varieties. The seed range is the result of many years of creative and conservative breeding. The activities carried out will make the seeds more affordable, while at the same time ensuring the highest quality of the range offered. Seeds are produced mainly in Lower Silesia in the area of the most fertile soils for vegetable production.

Tomasz himself runs the business since 1996 when he received 5 ha of land from his parents. At the moment, his farm has an area of 130 hectares of which 80 hectares is land in his possession. Currently, his son and a permanent employee are helping him with business.

The business's main focus is seed production for vegetable crops - 80 ha of land is dedicated to this purpose. The other production is phacelia (5ha), wheat (10ha), and maize(15ha) which are needed for crop rotation. The farmer needs specialised machinery among which there're AGREG seed dryers as well as machines for confectioning, cleaning and packaging. There've been installed 8 plastic tunnels of 1500 m2 and drip irrigation.

On the farm, there is used such machinery as:

• FENDT 920 tractor
• ZETOR 7245 tractor
• URSUS C-330 tractor
• x2 BELARUS tractor
• CLASS combine

For mixed tillage (no-till, plowing):

• AgroTom precision-growing aggregates x3
• LEMKEN 4-plow rotary plough
• KUHN rotary harrow 3m HRB
• BRIX disc machine
• PROMAR Złotki 2000L sprayer (2016)
• PROMAR Złotki 2500L sprayer (2016)
• FERBO rain shower
• herbicide burner

It is worth mentioning that Tomasz holds a Ph.D. in agricultural economics and used to teach at the university for many years, however, this year he decided to give up on it in order to focus on the company.  What's more important Tomasz has intellectual property rights in the form of production of new plant varieties.

The farmer sells his products throughout Western Europe, Ukraine and Africa. Sales are based on long-term contracts. The company's products can be purchased on its website: https://berbekaseeds.pl/

The plan for the near future is a construction of a new farmhouse that will serve as a showroom and storage facility for the company. A photovoltaic system will also be installed at the company's main premises.

Funding from HeavyFinance will help to implement a project to introduce new honey and ground cover plants, aligned with the latest European Union eco scheme guidelines. This will involve an increase in biodiversity. The project is already after the field evaluation.

The revenue for 2021 consists of 22 848 € in subsidies.