OREANDA-NEWS Acron Group held discussion sessions on Digitalisation and Innovation in the Agro-Industrial Complex at the Golden Autumn exhibition, Russia’s leading agricultural trade show.

The event focused on digital transformations and innovations in agriculture and agroindustry. As part of the programme, leading experts in the sector discussed general trends, strategic programmes implemented at the national level, and initiatives by regional and local governments and sector enterprises. Boris Slavin, academic advisor in the Applied Mathematics and IT Department at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, reported on Digital Economics: Are We Ready for the New Era. Oleg Motorin, representing the Research Centre of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, spoke on Digital Economics in the Agro-Industrial Complex and Public Information Resources. The audience was particularly interested in a presentation on Information Technologies in Agriculture and Agroindustry, Investments and Trends by Nikita Yuriev, an investment manager from the Internet Initiatives Development Fund.

The discussions also covered pressing issues related to promoting and ensuring legal and regulatory support for innovations in the agro-industrial complex. Representatives of the invited companies demonstrated best practices for transitioning to digital models and processes, using innovative technologies and implementing IT projects. The presentations included: Geoinformatics for the Agro-Industrial Complex — Innovative Opportunities by principal deputy CEO of Sovzond Mikhail Bolsunovsky, UAV Operation as Part of Preparations for Differentiated Application of Nitrogen Fertilisers by head of the Agro Division at Geoscan Group Nikita Prokofiev, The Internet of Things — New Opportunities for the AgroIndustry by key customers manager at Tibbo Systems Kirill Gladyshev, and LPWAN-Technologies for Agricultural Monitoring by CEO of Smartiko Igor Brazhnik.

An entire session focused on opportunities provided by contemporary information and communication technologies and solutions. Leading Russian developers presented solutions that bring the Internet of Things to agriculture, introducing IOT in crop farming, blockchain technologies and unmanned tractors. Remote field data (humidity, temperature, mineralisation) collection, equipment monitoring, irrigation control, planning and forecasting systems attracted attendees’ interest. According to the discussion attendees, the most promising technology was a method for differentiating nitrogen fertiliser application based on data generated by unmanned monitoring facilities.

Acron Vice President for Corporate Development and Business Sustainability Vladimir Kantor commented: “Aiming to improve its agricultural performance, Russia has already started introducing advanced solutions for applying both modern mineral fertilisers and technological innovations. The Golden Autumn exhibition gives Acron an opportunity to present its most promising developments to a wide range of Russian agricultural producers. Some of these have already been applied by Plodorodie agricultural holding, a member of Acron Group. We are committed to further promoting new technological solutions”.

At the upcoming conference Increasing the Efficiency of Applying Mineral Fertilisers and Chemical Amelioration Is a Prerequisite of Maintenance and Restoration of Soil Productivity, Head of Acron’s Department for the Development and Introduction of Agrochemical Technologies Arkady Sverdlov will report on an experiment carried out at Kubris (a company in the Plodorodie group) studying the application of the most efficient types of nitrogen fertilisers produced by Acron. The conference, organised by the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association in association with Russian Ministry of Agriculture, IFA and the International Plant Names Index, will be held on 6 October as part of the Golden Autumn exhibition.