OREANDA-NEWS. On 08 July 2009 was announced, that the PAVA company develops agricultural production as one of the primary business areas, and seeks to increase yields of grain crops. PAVA has already made significant investment in farmland – modern fertilizers and herbicides, high-quality seeds, upgrade of machinery fleet. Today the efforts are focused on the search of new selection achievements, crops able to give higher yield – more than 70 hundredweights per ha. After delegation of the Altay grain processor visited the Ukraine, it started negotiations on purchasing a large consignment of unique seeds.

The crop in question is triticale hybrid “Papsuevskoye”, or “Zhitnitsa” – as it was named by its developer Alexander Papsuev. This is a hybrid of rye and wheat, characterized by endurance of the former and baking qualities of the latter. A. Papsuev is the only plant breeder in the world, who by cross-breeding rye and wheat obtained a variety of triticale, absolutely free from rye proteins of secalina. Such a result became possible due to involvement of another plant – steppe cereal elymus. It explains the fascinating qualities of “Zhitnitsa”, resilient during harsh winters and summer heat - even in the regions which do not traditionally sow winter crops, and providing double harvest compared to spring crops – 100-133 hundredweight per ha were harvested against the original 72.

“Today we are in talks to purchase “Zhitnitsa” seeds. This is a very undemanding crop which can be planted on any type of soil, even after sunflower sowings, and it excellently prevents weeds growing. Besides, “Zhitnitsa” seeding rate per ha is 4-6 times lower than the rate for wheat, which allows to significantly cut costs for agricultural production”, comments Andrey Ananin, PAVA Director General. “Its cultivation does not require herbicides, nor chemicals protecting crops from diseases and pests”.

Flour from winter triticale “Papsuevskoe” is used in production of various baked goods – bread, long loaves, muffins, croissants. Besides, this flour is successfully incorporated in pasta manufacturing.

“We believe that “Zhitnitsa” crop will help unlock the potential of Altay lands, and provide feedstock security for the processing enterprises. The year 2008 has demonstrated dependence of processors on the grain market environment, especially in the Altay Territory that suffered from grain shortage. High yields of “Zhitnitsa” will maintain competitiveness of the Altay flour both on the domestic market and abroad”, concluded Andrey Ananin.