EkoNiva-Semena has taken part in the All-Russian Field Day 2023 in Tatarstan, presenting a large-scale booth. Besides, there was a tasting session of EkoNiva Organic drinking milk at the showcase arranged by Roskachestvo.

This year, over 250 companies have attended the Field Day. They were introduced to innovative farming methods, cutting-edge machines and various agricultural products. The centrepiece of the event was the plenary session devoted to the performance of Russian crop farming under sanctions pressure. Dmitriy Patrushev, Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, defined the key objective of the country’s farming sector.

‘It is essential for us to build a good foundation for all major areas of agricultural production. One of the top-priority tasks is to increase the industry's independence from imported seeds. The share of the domestic plant breeding in the total volume of sowing is consistently growing’, says the minister.

EkoNiva makes an important contribution to this segment, by developing in-house breeding programmes in particular. Over the last three years, ten varieties have been listed in the State Register: seven winter wheat and three soya bean varieties, while several more are currently under trials. The company’s plant breeding work also covers spring wheat, barley and lentils, and plans are afoot to develop new varieties of forage grasses.

Since the biggest field event of 2023 was held in Tatarstan this time, the largest number of visitors came from the Volga region. They are mostly interested in cereals, so EkoNiva advised them to opt for its winter wheat – they would especially appreciate EN Taygeta adapted for the Middle Volga region. Last year, it yielded 6 t/ha in the production of local farms, which is 10-15% higher than the competitors. EN Taygeta is distinguished by high lodging resistance and a large number of grains per head. It is worth paying attention to other winter wheat varieties from EkoNiva: EN Cepheus, EN Albireo, EN Mars, EN Photon and the regionally adapted novelties EN Voin and EN Persey.

In recent years, the Volga Federal District has been among the leaders in soya bean planting. The farmers look for early maturing and high-yielding varieties of this crop with a high protein content – up to 42%. There is a special interest in the ultra-early variety EN Argument with a sum of effective temperatures of 1,900°C. The variety is adapted for the north of the Volga region and can be used as a predecessor for winter crops in the southern areas. The soya bean varieties EN Akcent and regionally adapted EN Argenta are also well suited to the local soil and climatic conditions. Overall, EkoNiva's commercial portfolio includes 75 varieties and 2 hybrids, so the company has something to offer any farm in almost every part of the country.

‘We are happy to share the best innovations in plant breeding and seed production with our partners and provide them with expert advice. At the Field Day, we have received a lot of good feedback about our varieties from the customers and signed several seed supply contracts for the winter and upcoming spring seasons’, says Yevgeniy Kucheryavenko, Executive Director of EkoNiva-Semena.