Experts Speak: Why Spring 2021 Will Be Different?

On February 10, the first hybrid event of its kind in the agricultural sector was held, organized exclusively for the most innovative farmers — customers of the companies Bayer, NIK and Summit Agro. Although the event was intended for a narrow circle of farmers, it was watched by over 400 people online from across the country.

Before the start of the spring campaign, every single farmer hopes that this spring will be different. The answer to how in practice we can trigger a better year, and a more profitable campaign, was told by the three companies. Experience and successful practices were shared by leading farmers - innovators in Bulgaria in front of an experienced presenter.

The event was divided into three thematic panels led by each of the companies, accompanied by discussions with farmers who share their experiences.

Plant protection for champions

Smart Farming for Innovators

New solutions for pest control and fertilization for high yields

Plant protection for champions

The first panel was presented by Zecho Murzov — Sales Director for Bulgaria at Bayer Cropscience, Plant Protection and Seeds Department. The expert presented solutions for profitable grain production, along with promotional and exclusive solutions that the company offers for the upcoming spring campaign.

One of the top products of the company for this year in cereals is the Secator Power product.

“In this proposal, the effect of Secator is better because of its combination with Biopower®, through which a more decisive action on weeds difficult to control is obtained, without affecting the high level of selectivity of the product”, explained Zecho Murzov.

The company presented three schemes — economical, standard and premium for fungicides in cereals. In this way, Bayer fully covers the needs and opportunities of farmers in the country, while guaranteeing them maximum protection of the crops until harvest.

“Bulgaria has a record number of corn products. We want to offer you a uniquely adapted solution for each situation”, said Zecho Murzov.

One such new product is Monsoon Active — herbicide with complex action against balur and all broadleaf weeds. The product is a combination of two active substances belonging to the chemical group of sulfonylureas plus an antidote.

Farmer Alexander Dimitrov shared his experience with Bayer products. He is the organizer of production in PPK Brashlyan, in the village. Ivy, Ruse region. The cooperative cultivates about 13,000 decares of land with the main crops for the region — oilseeds and cereals.

“Since our farm is located in the Danube region, the whole land is delineated with drainage channels. Due to the wheat weeding that has also appeared in Northern Bulgaria, since last autumn we made a firm decision to trim these blocks. We dealt with Atlantis Flex. We are currently making observations in the field and the conclusion is that the preparation has done wonderfully. On more serious weeding with wild oats, we use Pacifica Expert. This is a combined product that works equally well against deciduous and cereal weeds,” said Alexander Dimitrov.

Smart Farming for Innovators

The second panel was presented by Ivo Kumanov, manager of NIK. The focus here was on new technologies and how with them every farmer can sow better. Where lies the precision and efficiency of a perfect sowing, Ivo Kumanov told.

“When sowing, it is important that the planter applies the population that we have set for ourselves. When we talk about how we're going to be better in spring 2021, we can't help but mention Precision Planting. The company has many products, however, each of them is individual and with a patent”, explained the manager of NIK.

He presented the main technologies for improving and controlling the sowing of Precision Planting:Delta Force, Smart Firmer, Smart ProfundidadandFurrow Force.

“Delta Force is a hydraulic cylinder that is controlled independently and automatically determines the pressure. The biggest benefit of the product is that thanks to it, farmers can guarantee uniform soil compaction, which will give an even start to crops”, explained Ivo Kumanov.

Smart FirmerIt has proven itself by measuring the moisture in the row with absolute accuracy.

“You can't imagine how much moisture varies within a field. The product also measures the temperature. This is one of the most important parameters, because farmers know when it is most appropriate to place the seed. Smart Firmer shows how uniform the seed channel is, how clean the row and the sowing bed are. Based on all these parameters, we can adjust the machine so that it even changes its population itself. And this in a way to increase the population in the areas where we have organics — correspondingly higher potential for extraction. And reduce the population in the weaker areas of the field. All this can be done automatically. Precisely for this Smart Firmeris an absolute hit on the market and has no analogues”, explained Ivo Kumanov.

Smart Profundidadis Precision Planting's solution for automatic depth control, depending on soil moisture and temperature.

“Not always, for example, 7 cm is the best depth. The best depth is the one at which the temperature and humidity are the same for all plants. This is exactly what Precision Planting studies show. The analyzes show that the seeds germinate and the plants are in the same phase even if they are at different depths, if the humidity and temperature conditions are the same,” added the manager of the NIK.

However, for good sowing, one more thing is needed, they are categorical from NIK.

“In our opinion, it is also important that the machine listens, follows a straight line and moves accurately,” Ivo Kumanov explained.

This is what one of the largest agricultural companies in North-West Bulgaria believes in. In the first month of 2021, the company fully modernizeOur fleet of vehicles more than 100 machines with the latest generation of Trimble GPS equipment.

“The next level is fully autonomous machines. But how do we send these machines to the field if we have not learned to set them the right limits, lines of navigation, the right norms? Trimble AutoSyncis a transition to autonomous machines that allows fast loading of data and information in real time, along with protection against operator errors,” concluded Ivo Kumanov.

Two well-known farmers share their experience with smart systems — Stilian Chomakovsky and Alexander Dimitrov.

Chomakovski cultivates nearly 13,000 decares of land in the area of Tarnava, Byala Slatina. He is a second-generation farmer and currently works alongside his father.

“It turned out over time that the investment in Trimble equipment is one of the fastest returns and one of the most successful. I saved on fuel, detergents, fertilizers. Separately, I reduced the efforts of the workers and last but not least — the trampling of the soil, the ecology. At some point this is how things changed, since 10 years ago it was a great innovation. Now all my machines are autopilot, with a precision of up to 2 cm and for me this is neither innovative nor some kind of luxury, but standard. If a farmer wants to develop, to be successful, to achieve results, this is already a necessity. Whether it is small, whether it is medium, whether it is large - for me it is necessary to have autopilot”, Stiliyan Chomakovski is categorical.

In addition to precision machines, NIK also offers sampling and soil analysis. Knowledge of the soil is the first step to successful agricultural activities. Thanks to the modern equipment and technologies that NIK Agro Service uses, their laboratory ranks first in productivity on the Balkan Peninsula with a daily capacity of more than 1000 soil samples.

“If you harvest differently, why you fertilize the same is no longer a question for many of our customers. Simply because they do not fertilize equally!”, said Ivo Kumanov.

Alexander Dimitrov shared more about his experience of the service AgroBalanceof Nick.

“In 2017 NIK came and offered me to work with AgroBalance — their comprehensive soil analysis service. I was a little skeptical. I said to myself - they will come, they will take samples, some analyzes will come out, but what are we going to do with these data then? How will they be useful to us? I provided a block of 600 acres and one of 1000 acres. To my surprise, it turned out that one block does not need phosphorus and potassium fertilizing at all - something that I have put so far. In the other block, it turns out that instead of the norm, which I would bet about 25 kg, he needs only 12 kg.

Finally, these same blocks gave the same yields with the ones I look at conventionally. In this way, I saved a lot of fertilizer. The following year, 95-96% of our acreage relied entirely on soil analyses. Everything at the moment in our farm works with a variable rate and is according to the recommendations and prescriptions of the NIK laboratory.

After 4 years, we got to the situation that we have only 2 zones in the field — one does not need fertilizer, and the other one needs a specific amount. The most important thing is that we made the blocks homogeneous. Everyone thinks that the block is one whole, but it is not. This is very important, and we managed to achieve it,” Alexander Dimitrov said.

New solutions for pest control and fertilization for high yields

The third panel is led by Prof. Dr. Miroslav Tityanov, manager of Summit Agro in Bulgaria. The focus here were new technologies and solutions for crop protection and fertilization.

“Until now, to combat soil enemies in field crops, systemic synthetic insecticides were used to decontaminate the seeds, which had an excellent effect. But in the last few years, the EU has decided to ban their use in agriculture. And therefore the fight against this problem has passed to a different level. Summit Agro offers a new technology that can solve the problems with these enemies.

Our solution is microgranular insecticides for localized soil application, during sowing. The planter releases the seeds while a separate applicator drops the granules of the soil insecticide around the seed. Thus, it provides an excellent effect in the fight against enemies,” explained Prof. Dr. Miroslav Tityanov.

Two are the top products from Summit Agro for the spring campaign — Ercole and Trika Expert.

Summit Agro offers a variety of microgranular fertilizers, in different formulations, with different nutrient content under the Microstar brand. What did the farmers say about them?

Ivan Balabanov owns 16,000 acres of land in various lands in General Toshevo, together with his brother — Jordan. He is a pioneer in microgranular fertilizer technology. The product he uses on his farm is Microstar.

“We have been trusting Microstar for many years, because first of all we profit from it — it is easy to use, it does not clog the planters, it does not cause us problems. We have exactly five days to do our field work. These days, everything has to go on notes, we need 100% reliability. That is why we trust the high quality of Summit Agro fertilizers. Always a high level!” Balabanov shared.

Milena Mincheva together with her family grows organic fertilizer, corn and sunflower in the municipality of General Toshevo. Her family has chosen the difficult but also noble path of organic production in Bulgaria.

“We are engaged in regenerative agriculture. It is difficult because things have been very slow so far. The products we worked with were very difficult to find. Summit Agro, however, reacted rather quickly and obviously when one seeks — finds.

We applied Mycoaplay Endomax last year in corn and sunflower. We had control fields and the difference was visible very strongly.

What made the greatest impression on me is that fungi act on the root system itself. We have been working with micro-limiters to restore soil resources for a long time. The time has come to apply them also by treating the seeds. Definitely, the development of the root system in both corn and sunflower was with a very large difference, respectively, the yields gave the final high result. I would say that a product is understood if it is good when there are extreme situations. So was 2020, as there was a lack of rain in our region. MikoaPlay Endomax did a great job! That's why we decided to use it in wheat as well. Currently, although the culture is at rest, we have a highly developed root system — 3-4 brothers formed, even in the absence of any fertilizer”, shared Milena Mincheva.

The event “Why Spring 2021 will be different?” was held online on the ZOOM platform, and the participants had the opportunity to participate in three games, which brought them as prizes soil analyzes from NIK, plant protection preparations from Bayer and SPA rest from Summit Agro.

The comments from the participants during the event and the day after were extremely positive, and the questions did not stop raining all the time in the chat. It was seen that their farmers definitely miss the events that traditionally take place at the beginning of the year and although the digital ones are not like the real seminars and there is no personal contact between the visitors, interest was not lacking.