The large agricultural seminar on farming efficiency took place on August 9th, 2018, in Mokshan district. It was hosted by the farm ‘Service’.
Apart from agricultural professionals, it was also attended by local government officials, professors of Penza State Agricultural University, members of financial institutions.
Ivan Belozertsev, governor of the region, opened the seminar. In his speech he talked on this year’s weather conditions and the crop yield.
‘The sowing has been accomplished in time, but the major problem, both in our region and in other areas of Russia, is the drought season. The crop yield is lower than in the previous year, but considering these conditions, everybody has worked quite well,’ he said.
In 2018 the total areas of cultivated land in the region are 724,000 ha of grain crops, 246,000 ha of sunflower, 62,800 ha of sugar beet.
At the moment, about 288,000 ha of grain and pulse crops have been harvested, which is 40% of the planned figures. About 812,000 tonnes of grain has been collected already. This year’s crop yield is 28,200 kg per ha. Penza is one of the leading regions in the Volga Federal District, where the average crop yield equals 21,400 kg per ha.
The governor stressed that the main goal for the agricultural professionals now was to use the favourable conditions and quickly finish the harvesting.
‘Grain prices will be higher this year, moreover, the internal demand on the grain market is growing.
Now, I think, is the time to discuss how we should work so as to achieve good results in the next year,’ said the governor.
He also stressed the importance of constant learning and adapting the best practices.
‘One should always be ready to learn. There always appear new technologies and approaches to soil cultivation, as well as new varieties of plants,’ he said.
One of the seminar discussion points was cultivation of white lupin, a green manure that stirs the soil, contributes to better water and nutrients access, controls soil erosion.
In 2018, the area of land with white lupin is 2.3 thousand ha, which is 105% compared with the previous year. This plant is cultivated in Belinsk, Bessonovka, Kamenka, Mokshan, Nizhny Lomov, Nikolsk, Pachelma and Sosnovoborsk districts of the Penza region.
The manager of the farm ‘Service’ Aleksandr Argatkin said that white lupin has been used in their farm for five years. At the moment, four fields with the area of 600 ha have been sown with white lupin.
‘It is a very cost-effective plant to grow, in 2016 the crop yield was 2,600 kg per ha and in 2017 it was 2,000 kg per ha. So the profits reached around 200 per cent. Their main purpose is to improve the quality of the soil, it is a great predecessor for the autumn-sown grains,’ he commented.
The agricultural professionals shared their experience on the application of green manure, discussed all pros and cons.
Summing up the seminar discussions, the governor expressed his hopes for higher grain crop yield. ‘We have to learn new techniques, we are capable of achieving the figure of three million tonnes of grain crop by 2020. We have all the facilities for that. We are increasing the areas under crop, improve the techniques of crop growing, and the yield has already doubled over the past two years,’ he said.
