Agricultural machinery manufacturers presented their new products at a regional seminar in the Vitebsk region
Heads of regions, integration structures, and agricultural enterprises of the Vitebsk region gathered in the agro-town of Novka to familiarize themselves with samples of high-performance equipment and see it in action.
Opening the seminar, Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee Nikolai Sherstnev noted that the event is one of the components of the plan to bring the Vitebsk region's agro-industrial complex to profitable operation.
It is necessary to fundamentally reformat production relations to fully load processing enterprises – this is the main reserve. Currently, the capacities of the meat and dairy industry are used only by half.
More than two years ago, four integration structures were created, including processing and agricultural enterprises. At the same time, the first step was taken towards technical re-equipment and the formation of mechanized detachments that yield positive results.
In the future, 15-20 consolidated organizations should remain in the agriculture of the Vitebsk region, which will manage all 800 thousand hectares of arable land. Thus, the final producers of finished products will take control of the entire raw material zone and will be interested in its development. This will reduce the cost and produce a competitive product on the domestic and foreign markets.
More than 300 stores are also part of the integration structures, which may soon be merged into a single network.
According to the head of the region, trade, like processing, should invest in the development of the village. OJSC "Vitebskiye Produkty" can serve as an example, as it directs its profits to the construction of a dairy farm, and the construction of a pig complex is planned later.
Seminar participants were oriented towards acquiring the most powerful tractors capable of working in conjunction with wide-coverage units.
Nikolai Sherstnev emphasized that modern combined machinery allows reducing the number of operational passes across the field during sowing and, consequently, lowering costs. According to specialists' calculations, if work had been fully carried out using this method this spring, 23 million rubles would have been saved in the agricultural sector of Vitebsk region.
At the field of OJSC "Rudakovo", several units of modern machinery were demonstrated in action. Chief Designer of MTZ, Nikolai Zezetko, presented the most powerful tractor in the plant's lineup – "Belarus-4522". It is equipped with a "Caterpillar" engine with 466 horsepower, "Bosch" hydraulics, has 16 forward and 8 reverse gears, and is capable of working with a 12-furrow plow, wide-coverage seeders, and cultivators.
An implement that breaks up the so-called plow pan, which forms as a result of many years of plowing at the same depth, was also demonstrated.
As Mikhail Pridibaylo, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Agriculture and Food of the Regional Executive Committee, explained, as a result of this phenomenon, the plant's root system cannot penetrate the compacted soil layer to absorb nutrients. On the other hand, the presence of a plow sole has a negative impact in a rainy year – the soil remains waterlogged for a long time, and farmers lose time, fuel, and ultimately, their harvest.
The modern equipment demonstrated in Novka is designed to elevate the agricultural sector to a new level, optimize costs, and increase production efficiency.
