EkoNiva Group, the most prominent milk producer in Russia, has got down to gathering winter camelina in the Volga region. Its enterprises based in Tatarstan were the first to start the harvesting campaign on July 25, then their colleagues from Bashkiria joined them on July 27, and eventually, Orenburg oblast was the last one to drive its machinery to the fields on July 31.

EkoNiva has been cultivating winter camelina in the Volga region since 2020. Over the last two years, the local farms have increased the area under this crop more than twice from 2,500 ha up to 6,100 ha. It is mostly grown for commercial sales, about 3-4% of the arable land is planted with camelina for seeds.

‘Camelina is an undemanding crop resistant to pests and diseases. This year, camelina has survived the winter well and we started the harvesting campaign in time thanks to the optimal weather conditions. In general, the prospects for the crop output are bright’, comments Aleksandr Anpilov, Director for Crop Farming at EkoNiva.

As of August 1, EkoNiva has gathered camelina from 1,100 hectares.

Lately, this crop has been gaining in popularity among Russian crop farmers – camelina oil rich in fatty acids is sought-after on the market as it is used in medicine, culinary, food and paint industries.