On November 10, the agribusiness conference OK Agro was held, at which Alisher Tyazhin, General Director of Kusto Agro, spoke about farming, the main problems and risks that arise in the work.

Work 24/7
“A farmer must always be online, observe the data he receives, and understand not only technological aspects, but also study financial, economic, political factors, since their combination affects the understanding of the market. If a farmer knows how to grow properly, then he must be able to sell correctly,” says Alisher Tyazhin, General Director of Kusto Agro.

The agro-industry regularly receives a large amount of data. It is important in this 24/7 rhythm to understand technologies and their importance for increasing the efficiency and control of the production process.

“Any farm that starts its production activity faces big challenges and problems for the first 2-3 years, including thefts. It will not be possible to overcome this problem 100%, but it is necessary to reduce this indicator to the minimum value. This is what happens at the very beginning,” Alisher continues.

Single team philosophy
At the start, agricultural companies test crops, return to the previous idea, but then they build an understanding of what to sow, how to work and, most importantly, with what team. It is very important that there is a holistic thinking in the team.

“First, agricultural holdings enter into corporate conflicts, which, in principle, is natural for a growing agribusiness. However, an important step is the formation of a team of like-minded people with a common philosophy. Suppose a farmer sells corn to the port at a good price, and it is very important that he can show with his attitude that he sells not only corn, but also the management philosophy,” continues Alisher.

Systematization of agribusiness. AgTech technologies used by Kusto Agro
An important aspect is also the digitalization of agribusiness. Kusto Agro, like most progressive agricultural enterprises, operates with a basic set of tools. The company uses the Cropio system to clearly understand what is happening in each section of the field, how crops are developing, and the like.

The company also monitors the vegetation index, rainfall levels, conducts technological operations and scouting, which allows you to quickly receive information about what is happening with the development of plants and respond to problems in a timely manner.

“Precision farming has to be handled very carefully, as data interpretation is often not completely objective. We do yield mapping, where yield deviation errors of up to 10-15% also occur. It is very important to have the right analytics, digitize and verify it well.

In agribusiness, it is important to feel the business itself, to delve into the details, since farming has many external and internal factors. You need to sit down, approve the plan and follow it. Let me give you an example: this year we changed the technological map for the next year 15 times, which ultimately led to the adoption of the right decision on the crop that we will sow.

This year we have sown winter crops, we believe that there is a good price factor; there were problems with the harvest for the first grain group, so the trading company suggested not to completely move away from winter crops. This year we sowed wheat using the No-Till technology, and next year we plan to sow spring crops according to the same principle,” Tyazhin summed up.