Damate is the first in the country to start improving pastures in the North Caucasus

26.05.2021
Lamb Production

Damate Group was the first in the country to start improving pastures in the North Caucasus Federal District as part of a mutton production project. The work done will improve the fodder base and increase the productivity of pastures for the subsequent grazing of sheep, which affect positively the development of the sheep-breeding industry as a whole.

In the spring sowing campaign of 2021, Damate will improve more than one thousand hectares of its own land. This year, Damate Service Company provided a service for improving pastures, tested on personal fields and farms of the NCFD. A farmer can conclude a long-term contract with the Service Company operating under a new model of contract farming for Russia and receive a full range of consulting and resource services, including in the field of crop production.

The company's specialists have already carried out sowing operations on the pastures of two farms with an area of about 30 hectares. These are the fields of the farm of Shamil Zugumov and the joint-stock company "Zarya", located in the Levokumsk district of the Stavropol Territory. Within the framework of cooperation, the company provided farmers with a full range of services in the field of crop production from individual selection of high-productivity grass mixtures to the provision of specialized equipment.

"We continue the gradual development of the mutton production project in the North Caucasus Federal District. Working with pastures is one of the most important conditions for increasing their productivity, which in the future has a positive effect on the productivity of sheep and meat characteristics of the final product. That is why Damate pays special attention to the technology of improving the sowing of pastures and applies the best Russian and foreign practices in this direction," said Rashid Khairov, General Director of Damate.

The specialists of the service company study the initial quality of each pasture, select the optimal grass mixtures based on the data of yield, soil dryness, capacity, nutrition, and turf density.

During the sowing process, Damate uses a direct sowing system that is optimal for the region. With such an agricultural approach, sowing is carried out in unprepared soil, plowing and undermining are excluded. The chosen technology allows to retaining additional moisture, does not destroy the structure of the soil. Sowing is carried out by a specialized seeder, that cuts the soil and plant residues, fertilizes and sows the seeds, then closes the furrow.

In the future, Damate plans to continue improving its own pastures and farmers ' fields in the North Caucasus Federal District. The following works will be carried out in the autumn of this year. The total land bank in the region is over 15 thousand hectares.