EkoNiva to set up major seed growing center in Novosibirsk Region
NOVOSIBIRSK. Aug 25 (Interfax) - EkoNiva Group plans to build a genetic seed growing center in Novosibirsk Region, EkoNiva science director Vitaly Voloschenko told reporters at the Tekhnoprom-2022 forum in Novosibirsk on Thursday.
"This is a seed growing, genetic center. We plan to start the project in 2023 and plan to reach [full] production capacity by 2030. The initial level of seed production - it's about eight crops - is 40,000 tonnes of certified seeds per year and [we plan to] reach capacity of 80,000 tonnes by 2030," Voloschenko said.
The seed growing area will be 10,000-30,000 hectares, with up to 300 ha of research selection fields based at the group's Sibirskaya Niva farm in the region's Cherepanovsky district.
The center will work on wheat, soybean, corn, barley, alfalfa and feed grasses, with the variety assortment aimed at the Siberia, Far East and Ural federal districts of Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, he said.
The company also plans to study production of brewing barley, which has "very high and singular process qualities," Voloschenko said, adding that for now the company "will work on feed barley with higher protein content, higher nutritional qualities."
He did not specify the amount of planned investment in the project.
EkoNiva and the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICG) signed an agreement on scientific and practical cooperation and strategic partnership at the forum on Thursday.
EkoNiva materials said that the agreement calls for the construction of a research lab and phytotron, seed plant with initial capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year, logistics center and the necessary associated infrastructure.
The project also calls for collaboration on improving the genetic potential of dairy cattle. The group and the institute will also fine-tune technology, including genetic passportization, marker and genome selection, gene editing, initial seed growing and large-scale growing of ICG and EkoNiva seed varieties.
EkoNiva, one of the five largest owners of agricultural land in Russia with 630,000 hectares, operates assets in the Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Leningrad, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Ryazan, Samara, and Tyumen regions, as well as in the Altai Territory and the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. The group's main business, the dairy division comprises 40 farms with 216,000 head of cattle, including 112,000 dairy cows. EkoNiva produced 1.1 million tonnes of raw milk in 2021. The company has also been developing milk processing since 2013.
EknoNiva closed 2021 with EBITDA up 3% to 16.6 billion rubles on revenue up 33% to 50.8 billion rubles, according to preliminary data from its unaudited consolidated financial statements.