The surrounding society and the main economic activity of the region of residence

The main areas of residence of the Chulym people are the Pervomaisky, Asinovsky, Zyryansky, and Teguldetsky districts of the Tomsk area, as well as the Tyukhtetsky district of the Krasnoyarsk territory. In all these areas, agriculture and/or forestry play a major economic role. The basis of the economy of the Pervomaisky district is the timber industry. Sand, chalk, clay, and mineral paints are mined there. The prevalent industries of the Asinovsky district are the timber industry (“Lesnoye Prichulymye” and “A-les”), woodworking, and plywood production.  A feed mill, a municipal dairy plant and a meat processing plant are also located there.

In the Zyryansky district, there is a road repair and construction enterprise, a butter-making factory, a food processing plant, a bakery, a factory producing building materials, a forestry enterprise, construction, agricultural and agrochemical enterprises, auto service, and maintenance shops. It is also an area where one can find mineral deposits, for example, the alki-earth bentonite clay-brick raw materials (the Zyryanskoye deposit) and construction sands (the Old Oil Depot deposit). The production of a unique mineral drinking artesian water is also underway.  Part of the population is engaged in hunting and gathering activities (people gather mushrooms, berries, as well as medicinal and technical raw materials).

The main economic sector of the Teguldet district is the forestry and wood processing industry. The primary tenant of forest plots is “Henda-Sibir.” The loggers are “Lespromkhoz Teguldetskiy,” “Korea-Siberia Wood,” “Tomsk Forestry Company.” In addition, 18 individual entrepreneurs are engaged in the procurement, removal, and primary processing of wood. The development of the forestry industry in the district is based on a significant timber resource base. On the district territory, there is a branch of the regional state organization called “Tomsk Forest Management” (the Teguldet forest area) that includes five sub-forestries (Teguldetskoye, Chetskoye, Chernoyarskoye, Beregaevskoye, and Sredne-Chulymskoye), which preserve and plant forests on the territory of 1.187.185 hectares.

The main economic sectors of the Tyukhtet district are agriculture and forestry. Over 200 enterprises, farms, and individual entrepreneurs are involved in agriculture. They are engaged in cultivation of grain and meat and dairy cattle farming. The network of enterprises for industrial processing of agricultural products is poorly developed yet small bakeries operate in the area as well: meat and milk are supplied to large processing plants in the neighboring areas. The timber industry in the Tyukhtet district is represented by timber harvesting.

Due to the fact that the forests and meadows there are rich in natural honey plants (i.e., fireweed, wild raspberries, white clover, willow, and meadow herbs), beekeeping is practiced both in private households and on farms.