The first agricultural online forum has completed its work

In the period from July 29 to July 30, 2020, the Agro-Omsk 2020 business forum was held for the first time in an online format. The broadcast on the YouTube channel was watched by more than 4,000 people.

The event is organized by the regional Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Agency for Development and Investment with the support of the Government of the Omsk region.

This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organizers of AgroOmsk had to change the usual format of the event and move it to the Internet space, focusing on the business program. Agro-Omsk 2020 has become an online platform for the exchange of experience, familiarization with industry achievements, developments in agricultural science in the field of crop breeding, and the latest technologies for forage harvesting.

The Forum was opened by Governor Alexander Burkov. The head of the region noted that it is impossible to imagine July in the Omsk region without this event.

"For the past eighteen years, we have been holding an exhibition where we present all the most modern and advanced things in agriculture. New knowledge means new prospects for the development of agriculture," Governor Alexander Burkov addressed the forum participants. - Our region is traditionally considered the breadbasket of Siberia. Last year, we produced almost 100 billion rubles worth of agricultural products. Omsk farmers have developments that, I am sure, will be useful to colleagues. Thanks to the accumulated experience, our agricultural producers annually cope with the tough challenges that the weather throws at them. Last year, despite the introduction of an emergency regime in eleven districts of the region due to soil waterlogging, we managed to harvest more than 3 million tons of grain. This is the 15th place in Russia and the second in Siberia. This year, on the contrary, the weather is hot and arid, and some crops have died. But I believe in our farmers, and we will not lower the target of 3 million tons of grain."

25 speakers from Omsk and other regions of Russia discussed industry-relevant issues in the field of animal husbandry, crop production, food industry and support measures for agro-industrial business. Experts from the foreign economic sphere assessed the export potential of the agro-industrial complex, spoke about the problems and prospects of working with international markets. Representatives of business services shared new information about financing and accounting in the agro-industrial complex.

"During the business program, Forum participants heard and saw presentations on various topics: the beginning of the grain season 2020 – 2021, preferential lending to agro-industrial entities, tax and accounting news in 2020, new challenges of digitalization in crop production, financing the development of agricultural enterprises in the Omsk region, artificial intelligence in agriculture, foreign economic contracts, promising markets and new approaches to deep processing of agricultural plant products," the organizers of the Forum said.

One of the main topics of Agro Omsk 2020 was the export of agricultural products. For example, Anastasia Yakovleva, a representative of the Russian Export Center, spoke about the compensation of part of the costs to Russian organizations for the transportation of agricultural and food products. Farmers were able to learn about promising markets and new approaches to deep processing of agricultural plant products, as well as about the risks associated with a foreign economic contract and the specifics of working with China.

The organizers of the Forum are confident that next year AgroOmsk will return to its traditional venue, the park On Korolev, but the format of the business program, communication with regions and foreign speakers will definitely remain online.

"The following facts speak about the success of the first Agro-Omsk 2020 online forum: more than 4,000 views of the broadcast in two days, a wide geography of participants. The acquired knowledge will now allow farmers to improve their business by applying innovative technologies, thereby developing themselves and developing the agro-industrial complex of the region. The urgent tasks for farmers of the Omsk region remain the same: increasing production efficiency, increasing the processing of milk, cereals, legumes, and oilseeds in the Omsk region. By solving these tasks, another urgent task will be solved – increasing the export potential, both within Russia and outside of Russia. I thank everyone for their participation, and wish you great success, new achievements, promising ideas and projects," concluded Oleg Kolesnikov, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Omsk Region, at the Agro-Omsk 2020 business forum.

Photo: Omskregion