ExactFarming and «PhosAgro-Region» conclude strategic partnership agreement

According to Anna Kudinova, the synergy of technological innovations and industry-specific expertise was found, due to the large pilot project conducted by the two companies in 2020, which covered approximately 24 thd. ha in 20 regions of Russia
and affected the producers of such crops as sunflower, maize for grain, wheat, barley, sugar beet and others. The project implied both carrying out experiments on the participating clients' fields and agronomic support, the selection of agronomically
and economically optimal fertilising systems applicable for independent scaling to other fields with similar characteristics.

Taking into account that, apart from increasing yield, increasing profit of a client is of great importance, the fertilising systems showing the best cost advantage that could reach 5 thd. roubles per ha of additional profit were selected. Anna Kudinova emphasised that such effect is reached only by combining the powerful agronomic expertise of the «PhosAgro-Region» agricultural service and digital technologies as the instrument for support and scaling of experimentally verified fertilising strategies.

When conducting the joint project, the companies paid attention to a number of clients' needs that they could meet together.
In some cases the solutions have already been found. The CBDO of «PhosAgro-Region» Maxim Zatochniy spoke about them.

Firstly, this refers to the fertilising systems development: their selection can be automated using the fields data. For that, closer integration of ExactFarming services with the agricalculator by «PhosAgro» is implied.
Secondly, special attention must be paid to the system of automated monitoring of mineral fertiliser application with the help
of NFC tags announced in November at the Agrarian forum of «Vedomosti». The system allows to conduct remote monitoring with further correction of mineral fertilising of plants, resolve the issue of fertilisers thievery and, as a result, support at the appropriate level the production volume of crop farming produce and get additional profit.
Thirdly, the joint service of agrochemical soil inspection will be launched. On the side of «PhosAgro-Region» the service of soil sampling and analysis will be made available, whereas ExactFarming will act as the service of digital support: from creating routes for soil samplers to building maps of chemical elements spread. In the future these data will allow to additionally improve the selection of fertilising systems in case this service is interesting for the client.

In her speech Anna Kudinova confirmed that, as the pilot project showed excellent results for the two companies' mutual clients, in 2021 it will be scaled up minimum 5 times. «Technically nothing holds us back, together with ExactFarming we are ready to work even at 1 mln. ha, but we will approach it gradually», — said Andrei Vovk. Besides, apart from the active development of focus areas named by Maxim Zatochniy, several other solutions will be launched and announced in the course of their fine tuning. Special attention will be paid to education: it is of principled importance to educate both current employees of farm business and future specialists - students.

Everything mentioned above became the essence of the strategic partnership agreement between ExactFarming and «PhosAgro-Region».