RAD farming practices hit strategic targets

RAD, PAVA subsidiary engaged in cereal growing, summarizes results of 2009 farming campaign and reports success on the key productivity goals. The producer of assorted high-margin crops, such as wheat, buckwheat, rye and sunflower seeds, has introduced a series of innovative changes into agricultural activity which led to opening up new perspectives.

In end-2008 Russian Agricultural Division consolidated PAVA’s land bank and began implementation of farming expansion programme. The company operations have reached out into new regions, and the amount of cultivated hectares for a number of crops was raised. Practices adopted by RAD included launch of gradual transition to zero tillage and efficient crop rotation, with an emphasis on preserving soil quality and yield boost.

"The achieved results are of high importance not only for RAD’s track record, but also for the industry on the whole. We succeeded in fulfilling some of the major tasks for today’s agricultural sector", says Alexander Kalashnikov, RAD CEO.

The average yield of the crop range is estimated at 17.4 hundredweight per ha, while certain crops, such as winter rye and spring wheat, have performed especially well.

"Our initiatives will extend to further accumulation of land plots and lifting the productivity potential", continues Mr Kalashnikov. "Awareness of the environmental impact is another important issue, so all techniques applied in the future will continue to be in line with sustainable farming".