Kubris: "Digitalization Is Necessary For The Development Of Rice Farming In The South"

For rice farmers, 2023 was a difficult year in view of the weather. But farmers managed to get an above-average crop

In an interview at the YugAgro exhibition platform, Vladimir Emgrunt, Executive Director of Kubris company (Akron Group participant), discussed with RBC TV Yug the role digitalization plays in increasing the performance, and what will be the impact of the extension of the rice export ban.

A difficult year for rice farmers

The rice crop in the Krasnodar Territory increased by 34% this year, amounting to 780 thousand tons, although forecasts were not so optimistic at the beginning of the year. Industry experts then expected about 600 thousand tons. In your opinion, how has this year been for rice farmers of Kuban and the South of the country in general? What helped to ensure such growth?

You know, every year is difficult for rice farmers. And this year was no exception. In the beginning, it was a rainy, prolonged, cold spring, so there were certain challenges and delays with rice seeding. But, nevertheless, Kuban rice farmers got the things done within optimal agrotechnical deadlines — all farms of the Krasnodar Territory successfully finished seeding before May 20.

Further, there was a dry, high-temperature summer and, in addition, in August and early September — an enormous locust plague. But even in these extreme conditions, rice farmers managed to withstand and persevere.

Many industry experts note that digitalization in the agribusiness segment is not sufficient yet. It would be nice to see better integration of new technologies. In your opinion, is this so? And how often are new technologies used in rice farms now?

By today, the segment of rice planting has made significant advances. It is already making great strides. As for our farm, the situation is as follows. Firstly, we use integrated application of mineral fertilizers. We have appropriate equipment for this. Thorough planning using computerization, satellite monitoring of fields. The same thing with the crop sowing — it is carried out by means of precision farming only, there is no way around it. And, of course, drones. For all that, we managed to execute all the necessary documents and efficiently cultivate the fields with drones.

Surely, this is a step forward. This positively impacted the crop yields. That is why, without digitalization, we will not be able to get larger yields.

Can we forecast which technologies will be the future of rice farms? What will be implemented in the near future — within 10 years?

Sometimes we cannot keep pace with the novelties that are put into production. Science is moving forward so fast that we, agricultural producers, just cannot keep up. So, digitalization is the future, for sure. This implies well-being of farms and safety in the future.

Staff shortage, export ban and expansion of digitalization of the agro-industrial complex

Taking into account that the ban on the rice and rice groat export from Russia has now been extended, what will happen to prices?

Despite the sanctions against the Russian Federation, currently the price of both rice groats and raw rice is the most favorable. Shelf prices have not grown so much, they are acceptable.

Also, we often talk about the staff shortage in the agro-industrial complex. How does it affect you? Given that many specialists graduate in the Southern Federal District, do you plan to cooperate with higher education institutions in the South of the country?

The staff shortage is the most acute problem today. It is very difficult to find a qualified agronomist or engineer. That is why we are working with agricultural universities and colleges — even today I had a meeting at the exhibition. When I see smart students, I always take their contacts and give them contacts of our company. For some reason, agriculture is considered to be such a forgotten niche. Graduates prefer to work as sales managers, in security agencies, but not to be an agronomist or an engineer.

Let us talk about your plans to expand the infrastructure. How possible is this expansion in the current economic conditions?

First of all, we plan to expand the land reserves. Rice land is probably the most expensive in crop production in the Russian Federation. Secondly, the renewal of the machinery and tractor fleet, agricultural implements. I have already said that science is developing much faster now, machinery is so equipped that it must be operated not just by a mechanic, but a person with certain skills. Therefore, we are updating the combine park, the machine and tractor park, and agricultural implements. Yes, they are expensive, but these are modern high-performance machines.

We communicated with you at the 30th anniversary international exhibition YugAgro 2023. What are your impressions of it? Maybe you have already discussed something important and productive?

New technologies, machinery, plant protection products, mineral fertilizers — there are more and more product lines. This year is no exception. We have found a lot of new partners, we have seen a lot of the latest machinery, which may be useful in our rice fields in the future.

The 31st International Exhibition of Agricultural Machinery, Equipment and Materials for Crop Production YugAgro 2024 will be held on 19–22 November at the Expograd Yug exhibition centre, Krasnodar. Free electronic registration for visitors is already open on the official YugAgro website.