The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture (SRIA, Omsk) conducted a half-day Seminar on Agrochemistry for High Yields on July 28, 2009. This event was held at the institute one day before the 7th Agricultural Exhibition Agro - Omsk 2009. A pre-seminar field visit to the SRIA Research Farm was organized to observe field experiments conducted by various departments of the institute.

Dr. Vladimir Nosov, Director, Southern and Eastern Russia, made a presentation on “Fertilizer use by major crops in Russia” at this seminar.

Western Siberia is considered as a potential area for future IPNI projects. Omsk Oblast is the second most important agricultural region in Siberia after Altai Krai in terms of crop acreage. The yield of spring wheat, which is a major cereal crop here, averaged 1.09 t/ha in Omsk Oblast in 2008 compared to 1.51 t/ha in Russia. Mineral fertilizer use in Omsk Oblast in 2008 averaged only 2.7 kg of nutrients per hectare of sowing area (data for agricultural enterprises).

The opportunities for cooperation with SRIA were discussed during Dr. Nosov’s visit to Omsk.

Photo from the seminar you can see here