It has become a good tradition for EkoNiva Group’s seed growing subdivision to take part in KazAgro/KazFarm trade show. For the fourth time, EkoNiva-Semena has presented its booth to the farmers of Kazakhstan at the EXPO International Exhibition Centre. Over the three days of the event, the company has had a lot of productive business meetings with current and potential partners.

The exhibits occupied the entire area of the venue – 20,000 square metres – and were showcased to farmers from over 20 countries. Kazakhstan's agricultural resources are enormous, but they have not yet been used to the fullest. The demand for cutting-edge machinery and software as well as for premium quality, high-yielding, plastic seeds with strong genetics keeps rising in the country.

This year, the republic’s farmers have gone through a serious challenge. In the adverse climatic conditions, the average yield across the country reached only the modest figure of 0.9 t/h. Seeds from EkoNiva's portfolio helped some enterprises to solve the problems of severe drought in the growing season and high humidity during the harvesting. The Group has been supplying seeds to Kazakhstan for over nine years. These are mainly cereals – spring wheat and barley, but soya beans, peas and winter wheat have also been sought-after recently. During the time of the partnership, some varieties have become more popular with local farmers.

‘The main favourites in Kazakhstan are spring wheats Licamero, Cornetto, Toccata and Odeta. Even in this hard season, their yields were quite stable and amounted to 1.2-1.5 t/ha. Some farms, though, where seeds were sown on fallow land and the crop was harvested before the period of heavy rains, reaped around 4.5 t/ha. Barley varieties – Kazakhs opt for Calcule, Eifel and Grace – also performed well despite the weather challenges’, says Aleksandr Suntsov, Sales Rep at EkoNiva-Semena.

Under good climatic conditions, the average yield of EkoNiva's cereal varieties in local fields reaches and even exceeds the mark of 5 t/ha, which is significantly higher than that of competing varieties.

The wet weather during the harvesting of cereals in the country has created another problem this season – grain germination.

‘On the farms in Kostanay oblast, one of the popular local varieties germinated by 19%, which is critical. For the variety Licamero from our portfolio, this parameter was only 0.5%, giving it a decided edge over its counterparts. Besides, awnless varieties, which make up the majority of our seeds, germinate significantly less than awned ones’, says Willi Drews, Doctor of Agronomy, EkoNiva’s Consultant.

The company continues to promote varieties developed within its in-house breeding programmes. Trial batches of winter wheat seeds have been planted this year on a number of farms in southern Kazakhstan. In the north of the country, the test sowing of EN Argument, an early ripening soya bean variety with the fastest maturation period, has resulted in a crop of 1.5 t/ha – a good one for harsh weather. Next year, the variety is planned to be put into production.

‘We offer our partners world-leading genetics and a technology that enables them to reach a new level of farming and get consistent yields even under adverse soil and climatic conditions. In addition, we put a premium on consultations in agronomy and flexible approach to each client. Our participation in the republic's trade shows is very important – we receive feedback from our customers, which allows us to better understand their real needs’, comments Marina Balashova, Marketing Department Manager, EkoNiva-Semena.

Kazakhstan is one of the key export destinations for the holding, and local farmers are also interested in the cooperation. This challenging year has once again shown that application of the right agritechnologies and proper selection of varieties will allow advanced farms to overcome problems and gather a good harvest.

‘We have been working with EkoNiva for over six years, purchasing seeds of wheat, barley, oats, peas, soya beans and alfalfa. Quality seed material ensures a bumper crop under any weather conditions, which is essential in our areas. The company does not stay in one place, constantly introducing innovations, so it is great to learn and develop together. We are on the same page with EkoNiva’, emphasises Ruslan Utebay, Manager of EtalonAgroKhim, North Kazakhstan oblast.

Since the beginning of this season alone, EkoNiva has sold more than 4,500 tonnes of seeds to the country, and over the years of the partnership, it has supplied about 30,000 tonnes to the local farmers. The holding keeps expanding its customer base and enhancing its footprint in the export market in Kazakhstan. From 1 to 3 November, EkoNiva-Semena will take part in the AgroWorld Qazaqstan 2023 agricultural trade show in Almaty, where it will demonstrate its products to crop growers in the south of the country.