The golden mean

Amidst the wide variety of seeders on the domestic market, it is hard to find one that demonstrates an excellent seeding capability in various soils and climatic conditions. However, one such seeder does exist! This is the Rapid from Vaderstad.

Last year, AgroCentre carried out an unprecedented seeding campaign in the regions of Russia. The six- and eight-metre Rapid seeders operated in various regions of the country, showing excellent results. Demonstration seeding took place in the Lipetsk, Tambov, Orel, Kursk, Penza, Tyumen, and Chelyabinsk oblasts.  

“For over seven years, the Rapids have cruised the fields of our company. They are well known in the Black Earth and Central Regions, as well as in the Krasnodar Krai. However, we decided to show that the geographical application of these machines is much wider”, says Dmitry Ivanov, sales director of AgroCentreZakharovo. “Both technologically and in terms of use on different soils and in various climates the seeder is quite versatile”.

The seeder was tested on more than twenty farms, in each of which it demonstrated its capabilities on an area exceeding 1,000 hectares. The farmers were pleased with the results.

Tyumen oblast

Yuri Luzin, chief agronomist of Yemurtlinsky Agricultural Cooperative:

“We used the six-metre Rapid seeder. Its seeding and embedding accuracy is superb! It should be noted that we seeded at a fairly high speed of 12 km/h. However, this did not at all compromise the seeding quality. The productivity is high, too, around 120 hectares per day. With seeders, one usually seeks ‘the golden mean’ between the seeding quality and speed. However, we decided to carry out an experiment with the Rapid machine we obtained from AgroCentre. We set the highest possible speed, come what may! The sprouting was ideal! We’ve got 17,000 hectares on our farm, which is why we opted for the wide grip model”.

Chelyabinsk oblast

Yuri Rytslav, Director of Mitrofanovskoye LLC:

“We tested the seeder on peas. In recent years, threatened by drought, we have done our best to seed as quickly as possible. The Rapid performs several operations in a single pass very well, i.e. it cultivates, prepares the seedbed, embeds the seed and makes a mulch layer on the surface, thus saving the soil moisture. The sprouting is very even and regular. Compared to other models, the fuel consumption is rather low, a mere 9 l/ha. The simultaneous performance of several operations cuts the labour input at least threefold”.

Orel oblast

Yuri Osipov, chief agronomist of Orlovsky Lider LLC:

“The first what leapt to the eye was remarkable fuel economy, nearly by a factor of two. The Rapid pre-seeding tools package enables this model not only to seed, but also to ‘close the cycle’ of pre-seeding cultivation. The seeder performs fine in the ‘minimum’ operating mode. We used the six-metre seeder at a speed of 12 to 15 km/h. On average, we seeded 120 hectares, which cut by half the seeding time. Usually, the seeding consumed 15 to 16 litres of fuel per hectare. The Rapid saved us 5 to 7 litres on each. The seeding work, as such, calls for significant spending. However, the Rapid reduces it remarkably”.