Leading Russian agricultural enterprises have created a new platform for sharing experiences and promoting initiatives relating to the digitalization of the country’s agricultural sector. The Smart Farming Club (SFC) initiative launches with over fifty owners and senior managers at large Russian agricultural holdings among its ranks. These executive members are already responsible for the digitalization of their respective agricultural businesses.
“The main objectives of the club are to eliminate problem points in the digitalization of the agro-industrial complex and exchange best practices to form global trends in technological development processes” says Bjoerne Drechsler, Chairman of Smart Farming Club and member of the Executive Board of Ekotechnika AG. (the largest dealer of international agricultural machinery in Russia).
“We expect that the work of such an expert platform, uniting both agricultural manufacturers and suppliers of smart solutions, will accelerate the penetration of new digital solutions in agriculture and make it more efficient” he added.
Setting common standards for agricultural automation and digitization
Spread across Russia from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, members of the club currently include representatives of software development companies in the field of agricultural automation and “smart farming” technology development. Organizers of the club say they hope the total number of club members will exceed 1000 participants from Russia, CIS, Europe, USA, Latin America and other regions.
In addition to its purpose as a knowledge sharing platform, other outcomes could see the development of common standards and regulations in the field of digitalization and agricultural automation, as well as the preparation of proposals for the formation of the legal framework for regulation in this area.
“By now, many club member companies already have the relevant experience,” emphasizes Drechsler. “For example, Ekoniva, the largest John Deere dealer in Russia, already uses autonomous driving technologies and is actively engaged in the installation and maintenance of such autonomous systems in 35 regions of Russia.”
It is hoped that Smart Farming Club’s exclusive community of experts will play a leading role in the transformation of the agro-industrial complex within Russia and beyond. There is good reason to think this could happen, the land fund of the club’s representative companies already exceeds 2.6 million hectares (approx 6 million acres) with annual revenue of more than US$ 8 billion.
More detailed information about the Club and its activities can be found on the official website at: https://smartfarmingclub.com
