More than 60 people from 17 regions of Russia took part in practical training in the production of organic buckwheat.

The training took place on the basis of a certified organic agricultural enterprise LLC "Way of Life" in the Oryol region within the framework of the Union of Organic Farming project "Organic Agriculture - New Opportunities. The System and Practices of Responsible Land Use, Sustainable Development of Rural Territories” using a grant from the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society provided by the Presidential Grants Fund. Project partners: Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Federal State Budgetary Institution "Rosselkhoztsentr", Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education Primorskaya State Agricultural Academy, Primorsky EM Center.

On the first day, the Chairman of the Board of the Union of Organic Farming, a member of the Public Council of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Sergey Korshunov introduced the participants to the basic principles of organic agriculture, the legal framework, the certification system, the main markets, rules and requirements for production units. Particular attention was paid to the organization of sales of manufactured products, various marketing channels that are suitable for small and medium-sized agricultural producers, and cooperation issues.

As part of the training, Roskachestvo introduced the participants to the infrastructure for the development of organic production in the Russian Federation. The participants were especially interested in the certification procedure for the production of organic products. After all, only after passing such certification, organizations get the right to call their products “organic” and label them with a special label “organic”.
“It is extremely important for Roskachestvo, as the National Competence Center for the Development of Organic and Green Products, that organics in RUSSIA develop according to generally recognized principles: HEALTH, ecology, justice and care. it is these training and educational activities that contribute to the development of organic production in our country according to these principles. LLC "Way of Life" exactly a year ago was certified by Roskachestvo as an organic production. I am sure that the experience of Put Zhizni LLC, which we got acquainted with during the training, will become an example of the transition to organic farming methods for other producers,” says Alexander Chumak, Department for the Development of Organic and Green Products of Roskachestvo.

On the second day, the participants went for a personal inspection of organic buckwheat at the Way of Life LLC, which is now in full bloom. As of today, the development of plants is good, according to the forecast of the specialists of the farm, a decent yield is expected. The agrotechnology, according to which the "Way of Life" has been working for many years, was developed by the Russian scientist Ivan Ovsinsky and outlined in the scientific work "The New Farming System", was of great interest to the audience. The HEAD of the agricultural enterprise, Vladimir Kovakin, told how the system works in practice, what basic agrotechnological operations need to be carried out, how to choose agricultural machinery and methods of tillage, how to retain moisture and provide plants with nutrition without the use of agrochemicals and chemical pesticides. The company "Put Zhizni" LLC began its activity in 2012 and in fact is the embodiment of a previously formulated idea with many years of experiments. Today, the land bank of "Ways of Life" is 1314 hectares of arable land (1402 hectares - the total array) with a gross grain harvest of 2500 tons. The farm produces wheat, rye, oats, millet, mustard, and buckwheat. The enterprise is certified according to the Russian organic standard GOST 33980-2016 and is included in the unified state register of organic producers maintained by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.

During the training, Vladimir Kovakin told how to build a production based on a technology that allows you to meet organic standards and have a competitive economy in relation to conventional chemical producers. Farmers were able to ask their questions.

Ivan Lysenko, Deputy DIRECTOR of the Agricultural Support Department for the Southern Federal District and the Central Federal District of the Bionovatik company, presented the system developed by the company for the protection and nutrition of buckwheat in compliance with the requirements of organic standards. The company's biological products have received international approvals for use in organic agriculture and are included in the List of inputs for organic farming and the integrated plant protection system of the Organic Farming Union.

Also, within the framework of the project, a scientific and practical conference “Cooperation in organic agriculture - opportunities for SMEs” was held in Orel, where experts and specialists shared Russian and international experience, practice and opportunities that associations and cooperation open up for small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises.

The conference was attended by - Sergey Korshunov, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of the Union of Organic Farming, member of the Public Council of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of the Oryol Region Evgenia Sergeevna Surovtseva, Elena Stanislavovna Dubinchuk, Head of the Directorate for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation JSC " SME Corporation, Vincenzo Vizioli, President of Organic Agriculture Association AIAB Umbria APS, Italy Aldo Cervi, Co-founder of FederBio Services, Member of the Board of FederBio (Italian Federation of Organic Agriculture), Member of the Management Board of ATBio, an association of technical consultants and inspectors of organic production, Member of the Order of Agronomists and Foresters of Italy, expert in organic agriculture,management systems and sanitary and hygienic safety in the agro-industrial complex, consultant for the development of projects for the creation of organic chains, Andrey Aleksandrovich Antonenko, director of the State Agrarian University of the ICC of the agro-industrial complex of the Belgorod region, Yuri Rakhubin, General Director of the Solar Planet, Vladimir Mikhailovich Kovakin, head and ideological inspirer SPK "EcoKhutor", Andrey Alexandrovich Polukhin, Acting Director of the Federal State Budget Scientific Institution of the Federal Scientific Center for Legumes and Cereals, DOCTOR of Economics, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences.Acting Director of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution of the Federal Scientific Center for Legumes and Cereals, Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences.Acting Director of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution of the Federal Scientific Center for Legumes and Cereals, Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

During the break of the conference, the participants were treated to the products of the cooperative "EcoHutor", the ideological inspirer of which is Vladimir Kovakin.

Project activities clearly demonstrated successful practices and opportunities for agricultural producers in organic agriculture in Russia. The Union of Organic Farming will publish videos and presentations of speakers on its official portal www.soz.bio