The first decade of August is the period when potato growers in central Russia begin preparations for harvesting potatoes. These are the days of summing up the first results of the season, the appearance of preliminary forecasts for the harvest and an excellent moment to meet with like-minded people and colleagues. This is the time of the main holiday of the industry professionals - Potato RUSSIA Day of the Potato Field, annually organized by the well-known European manufacturer of potato and vegetable equipment - the GRIMME company.
For the sixth Field Day, a symbolic date was chosen - August 6. The event took place in the Dmitrovsky District of the Moscow Region, on the basis of the Bunyatino Agrofirm, which is part of the Dmitrovskie Vegetables Group of Companies.
The general partners of Potato RUSSIA 2021 were companies HZPC Sadokas, Bayer Crop Science, Manitou Group, DokaGin, John Deere, AMAZONE, Valley Irrigation, EuroChem and Agropack.
The meeting was organized after a forced one-year break and turned out to be expectedly crowded: more than 800 participants gathered for it.
Traditionally, the best examples of modern agricultural machinery, equipment for irrigation and storage organization, promising varieties of potatoes and vegetables, new products in the lines of plant protection products and fertilizers were presented to their attention.
During the exhibition day, everyone could take a bus tour around the territory of the agricultural holding "Dmitrovskie vegetables", visiting fields, storage facilities and a processing complex.
Beet focus
Today the agricultural holding grows a wide range of crops: including cabbage and leafy salads, carrots, beetroot, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and cereals.
The accent of the year is beets, which occupy 340 hectares. Most of the products are processed. As noted by Ivan Filippov, Development Director of the Dmitrovskie Vegetables Group of Companies: “Today we have probably the largest beet field in Russia”.
In addition, this year the company is growing onion seedlings for the first time. According to Ivan Filippov, the agricultural holding tried to sow onions earlier (with seeds), but in the conditions of the region, the products did not reach the size necessary for processing during the season. Now the company expects to receive a product with a diameter of 6-7 cm.
1350 hectares are allotted for potatoes, of which 1100 hectares are for food. Main varieties: Gala, Madeira, Queen Anna. Some early potatoes are also grown, varieties: Colomba and Bellarosa.
The company also has a separate project for the production of seed potatoes of chip varieties. The fields are located in the Taldom district. There, on an area of 250 hectares, seed material of high reproduction is obtained. Project partners: HZPC Sadokas, Rusevroplant and Pepsiko.
The main principle of the company: "What we produce must be of high quality."
It is used when working with products at all stages "from field to counter". The agricultural holding considers an important achievement, for example, that the head lettuce grown in the company's fields arrives at the METRO Cash & Carry distribution center 7 hours after cutting.
The agricultural holding annually renews its fleet of equipment, implements digitalization tools.
So, this season, nine sensors for monitoring soil moisture were installed on the fields of the enterprise, allowing you to track - where, when and in what volume moisture should come.
Commenting on the current situation, the director of development of the agricultural holding "Dmitrovskie vegetables" called the season-21 rather difficult, hot and dry; and stressed that the company will have a late harvest, as the products will need to grow to a caliber that meets the requirements of retail chains. In the conditions of the Moscow region, such a decision is certainly risky, but the agricultural holding can take this step, since it is equipped with excellent harvesting equipment: it has three two-row self-propelled VARITRON harvesters, one four-row and two trailed GRIMME harvesters.
Technique UGLY
The GRIMME plant presented several important new products at the Field Day. Visitors to the exhibition could appreciate the advantages of the machines during the demonstration.
Potato planter GL 860 Compacta
Experts call this 8-row potato planter with a 6 ton bunker the most productive on the market. A wide range of equipment makes the machine in demand both by small farms and large agricultural enterprises.
An important advantage of the model: the potato planter folds to a width of 3,35 m with a CMM of 75 cm, which makes it easier to move the machine to another field.
Double-row bunker harvester EVO 280
with three large separating devices and an undercutting device for various types of root crops (potatoes, onions, beets, carrots).
This is the first combine harvester to be equipped with a NonstopBunker, in addition to the standard 8 ton bunker, which has been increased to 6 tonnes. The increased volume of the hopper significantly increases the height and width of the transfer. This makes it possible to load transport vehicles located at a greater distance from the harvester, as well as easy and convenient loading of tall vehicles while driving.
One of the features of the EVO 280 is that it is equipped with three large-size separating devices at once, which provide high performance per unit area in combination with gentle product handling. For the first time, the corners of the cleaning rollers of the first and second separating devices are adjusted hydraulically by means of the control panel. This makes it possible to regulate the delay time of the product flow on the separators and, therefore, quickly adjust the separation efficiency. For the third separator, the user can choose between two options. On soils with a lot of clods, the ClodSep is available with two finger conveyors. On light soils, maximum productivity is achieved by using the EasySep with a 2,23 m wide needle conveyor and double scraper roller.
Despite its high productivity, the EVO 280 is very compact, with a transport width of only 3 meters. On the field, the telescopic axle extending by 3,5 meters ensures exceptional stability of the combine, even with a full hopper.
In addition to the potato technique, the vegetable technique also attracted the attention of the audience.
ASA-LIFT SP-200DF
It should be noted that two of the three self-propelled combines delivered to Russia at the moment ASA-LIFT work directly in the agricultural holding "Dmitrovskie vegetables". These machines have been successfully harvesting carrots and beets for over 10 years.
As you know, self-propelled vehicles compare favorably with their trailed counterparts with unprecedented cross-country ability even in the most difficult conditions.
To the pluses of a self-propelled harvester ASA-LIFT We add that the SP-200DF is also able to turn around practically on the spot and only due to turns it achieves a productivity increase of 20% (in comparison with trailed units).
The combine is equipped with a John Deere engine and hydraulic drive for each wheel. The cab, located above the pick-up sections, gives the operator excellent visibility.
ASA-LIFT TK-1000E
This machine is an example of a new generation of cabbage harvesters. ASA-LIFT, the main difference of which from the previous ones is a more careful attitude to the product.
The harvester allows you to harvest medium and late cabbage hybrids (heads of cabbage weighing from 1-1,5 kg). The model in this configuration provides the ability to harvest 1,5 hectares in 10 hours; equipped with a device for cleaning leaves.
ASA-LIFT OT-1500
This onion topper was extensively redesigned two years ago with a complete redesign of the frame, hydraulic system and electrical system. The defoliator now runs more smoothly and the copiers can be adjusted to the cutting height as easy as possible. The three defoliator rotors create a large air flow that lifts even green leaves. The knives, cutting off the tops and weeds, direct this mass into the aisle so that nothing interferes with harvesting.
Digger for vegetables WV-series
The new WV series digger is designed for gentle onion harvesting. The model is equipped with gentle pick-up blades (they can be in rubber or brushed versions). Both options are particularly flexible and can be tilted upward for high product flows. Thanks to the offset arrangement of the pick-up vanes, the crop is gently transferred to the first screening conveyor. When lifting the machine, the pick-up vanes prevent possible roll-back of the product, thereby ensuring that the maximum amount of quality product is deposited into the swath.
In order to achieve sufficient and gentle sieving in difficult harvesting conditions, the first and second sieve conveyors can be equipped with a tamping device (optionally mechanically or hydraulically driven).
The business program of Potato RUSSIA, as always, was successfully supplemented with entertainment events, and the meeting ended with a festive banquet, during which all those who distinguished themselves - in quizzes, a speed potato peeling competition and a photo contest - received well-deserved awards.
However, the main gift for the audience was that the Day of the Potato Field took place - despite the pandemic, rain and other big and small problems - and passed brightly, recharging the participants with the energy of success. In the 2021 season, we will all really need this charge.