AGCO Machinery and Matrix Universal dealer hold AGCO Russia Crop Tour 2018

AGCO Machinery, together with the official dealer Matrix Universal, held a practical seminar on August 15, 2018 as the continuation of Crop Tour in Russia, a unique research project about improving crop yields, which began last year. This year’s AGCO Russia Crop Tour event was in Abzelilovskiy District on the Krasnaya Bashkiria farm with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Republic of Bashkortostan) and Bashkir State Agrarian University.

The seminar gathered the heads of advanced local farms, agriculture entrepreneurs, and agriculture specialists from Bashkortostan and neighboring regions. Pavel Iofinov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Bashkortostan; Cameron McKenzie, AGCO Seeding & Tillage Product Marketing Manager for Europe and the Middle East; AGCO Machinery specialists; Ilnur Rakhmatullin, General Director of Matrix Universal; Khalil Safin, Doctor of Agricultural sciences, also took part at the event.

This year’s AGCO Crop Tour Russian seminar is a continuation of the research conducted in the framework of the unique Crop Tour project which was held in Russia in 2017. Unlike last year, when the main focus was made on studying the impact of technology on the corn, this year the key focus was on the study of sunflowers as a key, high-margin crop for the region of Bashkiriya. The preliminary research results have shown that application of either strip-till or a combination of strip-till and no-till technologies not only help to preserve the soil and raise the yield levels, but also save financial and material resources.

The research was done at four experimental stations. The first one gathered the specialists of the Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Bashkir State Agrarian University, who demonstrated the advantages of combining strip-till and no-till systems for tillage, leading to 25–30% higher crop yield.

At the second station, the role of seeding depth and its impact on the development of roots were studied. It turned out that using strip-till provides more developed roots as compared to other technologies.

The third station was dedicated to presenting the new ultra-modern СH 9108VE planter equipped with Precision Planting options that ensures quite a precise seeding and prevents skips thanks to digital sensors. The planter is also fitted with DeltaForce system providing the automatic control of pressure. Also, the specialists used an innovative vacuum seeding system vSet, which allows the even distribution of sunflower seeds (up to 99.5% accuracy level). Another technology tested in the framework of the research is vDrive, the system of independent drive for each row. It can automatically turn off each section of the planter and saves up to 5-7% of seeds.

The fourth station was devoted to the study of corn development using strip-till technology and mineral fertilizers, as well as the results of 2017 research, where no-till and strip-till technologies were compared.

The final results of the sunflower research on strip-till technology in 2018 will be obtained and analyzed during harvesting. These results will be presented to farmers at the next stage of the Crop Tour.

The preparation for the Crop Tour in Russia started in 2016. The key goal of the research is to explore the possibilities of modern technologies of tillage and seeding in real field conditions. In the course of the studies, at different stages of development of the crops, different aspects were compared, which influence the yield. The efficiency was also analyzed. The results of the project in 2017 showed that resource-saving agriculture technologies and strip-till in particular can open up new opportunities for the agricultural potential of such as dry regions as Bashkiria.

Cameron McKenzie, Seeding & Tillage Product Marketing Manager in Europe and the Middle East, AGCO, explains:
“The idea of the Crop Tour project lies, first of all, in determining the factors that cause the yield risks in each climate zone. These factors include the quality, depth and time of seeding. And second, it is about finding ways to get higher crop yield levels by using experimental technologies – and the optimum investment program that would allow farmers to grow.”

Ilnur Rakhmatullin, General Director of “Matrix Universal”, official dealer, adds:
“Crop Tour is an effective platform to demonstrate cutting-edge machines which work effectively using resource-saving technologies, such as Strip-Till. Every year the interest of farmers from Bashkortostan and neighboring regions increases both in the latest agronomy technologies and in the relevant agricultural equipment. We are ready to fully meet the needs of agricultural businessmen and farm managers who have decided to work on this technology – both by providing farmers with innovative machines, high-quality service and training for our customers’ employees.”