EkoNiva-Semena, a seed growing and plant breeding company within EkoNiva Group, has participated in the International agro-industrial exhibition AGROVOLGA-2022, which took place in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, on 6-8 July. EkoNiva presented trial plots featuring popular varieties from its portfolio and new varieties of own breeding.

This year, AGROVOLGA combined a large-scale exhibition, business forum and variety trial plots on 48 hectares within walking distance. Around 400 companies took part in the exhibition, over 15,000 agribusiness specialists and managers from different parts of the country visited the event.

Business meetings with representatives of more than 60 companies from Saratov, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Kirov, Orenburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Novosibirsk oblasts, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Mari El Republic, Udmurt Republic, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Altai areas and Kazakhstan were arranged at EkoNiva’s booth during the exhibition. The company presented demo plots with more than 30 varieties of different crops. The focus of this year’s exhibition is on winter wheat varieties due to the coming sowing of winter crops. EN Taygeta in-house bred variety, regionally adapted for Middle Volga Region, impressed the visitors of the booth.

‘EN Taygeta is distinguished by a short culm that is highly resistant to lodging. It is a variety with a high number of grains per ear. During state trials at Arsk trial plot in Tatarstan, EN Taygeta wheat variety gave a yield increase of up to 1 t/ha compared to the control plot’, emphasises Willi Drews, EkoNiva Consultant, Doctor of Agronomy.

The yielding capacity of EN Taygeta was growing during three years at a rate of 0,52 t/h annually as compared to the standard productivity of Kazanskaya 560 yielding 0,647 t/ha according to the official statistics of state variety testing in Tatarstan.

To date, more than 25 companies from Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod and Ulyanovsk oblasts, Tatarstan, Mordovia and Chuvashia have already signed contracts for the purchase of EN Taygeta winter wheat seeds.

Other EkoNiva’s varieties kindled interest among farmers too. For example, the holding negotiated agreements on delivery of EN Cepheus winter wheat and soya bean varieties – EN Argenta, EN Accent and EN Argument to the enterprises of Volga Federal District. These varieties with short vegetation period are perfect for the climate of Tatarstan and surrounding regions. However, soya is a new crop for the local farmers, and it requires specific knowledge to successfully incorporate it into the crop rotation.

‘The most popular varieties across the region from EkoNiva commercial portfolio are spring wheat varieties Licamero and Triso, barley varieties Paustian, Calcule, Explorer, Margaret. Rocket pea variety has been in steady demand for many years. The potential productivity of varieties in catalogue is rather high, they yield 5-6 t/ha, which is 15-20% higher as compared to the competitive varieties’, says Ilshat Mingazov, EkoNiva-Semena Sales Representative.

The Volga Federal district is an important agricultural region. In 2021, the overall amount of seeds delivered to the farmers of this district exceeded 12,5% of the total sales. EkoNiva intends to increase the delivery volume in the future.