OREANDA-NEWS  On 01 October was announced, that Mechanics of Seliverstovo, separate subdivision of Selhozholding , are working on their combines all day long, resuming thrashing of wheat interrupted by prolonged rainfall. The first crop which is currently harvested from these fields (Volchikha district of the Altay Territory), is not progressing easily but is worth all the efforts. The wheat is high-quality: gluten content is approximately 26%, impurity and grain dockage – no more than 1%; in other words, this qualifies as third grade product.

Achieving this result cost no small amount of work because the fields cultivated today by Seliverstovo specialists were turned over to them in neglected condition. The soils were depleted, overgrown with weeds and required a lot of careful attention. For many years these lands had been mismanaged, the crop rotation scheme grossly violated. Therefore, average yield of wheat is currently about 9 hundredweight per ha.

That is why the enterprise is carrying out fall-ploughing along with harvesting wheat. Undoubtedly, quality cultivation of fields in the autumn will bring a large crop next year. As of September 25, there are 2,058 ha of land ploughed. Fall-ploughing is proceeding without interruption, and will be completed only when weather conditions do not allow to take tractors out in the fields.

The separate unit Seliverstovo is supported by both Selhozholding Ltd. (Romanovsky District of the Altay Territory) and OJSC PAVA, the parent company. Sowing and harvesting in Seliverstovo are conducted on the machinery brought from Romanovsky district. Moreover, PAVA helped the enterprise purchase a new tractor, seeding machines, harrows, other agricultural implements, wheat seeds and herbicides.

Crop cultivation is quite a new line of activity for PAVA, which is developed simultaneously with traditional grain processing, production of flour, cereals and confectionery. Dynamics of the company’s development (today PAVA is the largest grain processor not only in the Altay Territory, but also in the Asian part of the country) gives reason to claim that results of PAVA’s agricultural units will be comparable to those of the parent company. In 2007, Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade declared PAVA Best Exporter of the Industry after it shipped 17% of the total volume of exported flour to the countries of far and near abroad.