According to preliminary estimates, the harvest volume at the farms of August-Agro Management Company in the Republic of Tatarstan in 2022 will be about 500 thousand tons of agricultural products: winter and spring wheat, sunflower, rapeseed, barley and peas. Thanks to the increase in acreage, favorable weather conditions and timely solutions in the field of machinery and fertilizers, the result promises to be almost four times higher than in 2021. Avgust-Agro manages its own agricultural business for Avgust, a major Russian manufacturer of crop protection chemicals. Agricultural firms use resource-saving technology of no-tillage farming No-To.
The predicted harvest of farms in the Republic of Tatarstan by the end of the season should be over 490 thousand tons, including 150 thousand tons of winter wheat, 130 thousand tons of spring wheat, 120 thousand tons of sunflower, 100 thousand tons of rapeseed, experts of the management company report "August-Agro". In total, this is four times more than a year earlier. Harvest volumes should increase due to the expansion of arable land (from 125 thousand hectares in 2021 to almost 190 thousand hectares in 2022), as well as due to an increase in productivity. Last year, a severe drought prevented the achievement of planned indicators, while now the weather conditions and the accumulated experience contribute to the achievement of the result. The yield per hectare may be three times higher than last year. In the course of harvesting winter wheat on individual fields of the Leninogorsk, Menzelinsky and Kamsko-Ustyinsky districts, local records have already been recorded - more than 60 kg / ha, the best result was obtained on the field near the village of Staroe Shugurovo (Leninogorsky district), where it was harvested in bunker weight on local chernozems 88,5 c/ha of winter wheat variety "Skipetr" (RS-1) at a moisture content of 9%.
The peculiarity of the No-Till technology used in the agricultural firms of "Augusta" is that with the so-called zero tillage, the topsoil does not loosen. Thanks to this, it does not suffer from erosion, while maintaining fertility. At the same time, the number of necessary passages of equipment through the fields is reduced: thus fuels and lubricants are saved. Today, August-Agro farms operate 56 seeders and 129 combines suitable for No-Till: the sowing complexes are adapted for sowing on the stubble residues of the predecessor crop and the simultaneous application of fertilizers, and the combines immediately crush the stubble residues during harvesting, and the resulting mulch is distributed across the field with a harrow. In addition, the agricultural equipment fleet includes 49 self-propelled sprayers, 56 tractors and 42 reloading bunkers (thanks to them, trucks do not drive into farm fields for grain and do not overcompact the soil). All the work of the equipment can be tracked in the Cropwise agricultural production management information system.
Approximately a quarter of the sown area of the management company "August-Agro" falls on winter grains, spring grains, sunflower and rapeseed. As part of the crop rotation, narrow-leaved and broad-leaved crops alternate, rapeseed is placed on the same field no more than once every four years, and pairs are not provided at all: in this way, farmers do not lose part of the crop, and “resting” lands are not occupied by weeds. Which varieties and hybrids are best suited for cultivation in the Republic of Tatarstan, the agronomists of "August-Agro" identify in the experimental fields. It should be noted that the yield when using No-Till increases gradually, from year to year, as plant residues accumulate and soil fertility increases. In addition, crops in "unplowed" fields are better protected from droughts, which are by no means a rare occurrence in the region.
According to Aidar Galyautdinov, general director of the management company "August-Agro", a high harvest can be expected, among other things, thanks to the timely autumn-winter preparation for the current season in terms of providing agricultural machinery with spare parts. As for the prospects, dealers of specialized equipment, including imported ones, promise to supply agricultural firms with everything they need in 2023 as well. At the same time, a search is being made for additional channels for the supply of the required components. Possible risks are also reduced by the novelty of machines used on farms.
“We are implementing the No-Till method on all our lands in the Republic of Tatarstan and we believe that it is great for the region. So, in the Menzelinsky and Muslyumovsky districts, no-till farming technologies have been used for the fifth year now, and the benefits are becoming more noticeable over time, - Aidar Galyautdinov notes. - The current agricultural season, in our opinion, is generally going well, the situation in the fields was favorable in terms of temperature and moisture. If rain does not interfere with the harvest, we hope to harvest in accordance with our forecasts or even higher.