Alexander Sergeyevich BUSHNEV
Head of the department of agrotechnology
PhD in agriculture
Docent
Tel: (861) 275-85-03
Fax: (861) 254-27-80
E-mail: agrotechnology@vniimk.ru
The first scientific program to study sunflower cultivation methods was developed in 1912. The program included studying the effect of autumn and spring plowing, sowing dates, and feeding areas on sunflower yield. In 1912-1925, these studies were led by V. S. Pustovoit.
Since 1930, in the field of agricultural engineering and agrochemistry, studies have been carried out on the effect of soil moisture, application of fertilizers, their forms and doses for sunflower, castor bean and peanut, soybean inoculation, as well as on the mechanization of oil crops, their treatment, and harvesting.
In 1932, the Department of Agriculture was established on the basis of the sectors of agricultural practices and soil science, whose research subjects of which included the study of issues of tillage of oil crops in crop rotation, the development of methods of crop treatment, the response of oil crops to mineral fertilizers, the dates and methods of their application, the biology of weeds and methods of their control.
The employees of the department have developed the basic zonal technologies of oil crops cultivation, including their placement in crop rotations, systems of main and pre-sowing tillage depending on field infestation and weed species composition, optimum sowing dates and plant density, methods of crop treatment, optimization of mineral nutrition, an integrated system of weed control in sowings.
In 2014, the Department of Agriculture was transformed into the Department of Agrotechnology, an integrated scientific unit that consists of five laboratories, and currently solves the tasks of developing:
— varietal agricultural practices of cultivation and agroecological passports of new varieties, hybrids and parental forms of sunflower hybrids, other oil crops;
— methods of effective use of macro- and microfertilizers in the cultivation of oil crops;
— testing of new fertilizers and plant growth regulators on oil crops.
The methods of oil crops cultivation developed in the department are widely used in farms of the Krasnodar region and other regions of Russia.
Researchers of the department take part in courses to improve the skills of agricultural specialists of farms, advise and provide them with scientific and practical assistance in the correct application of oil crop cultivation technologies depending on the capabilities of agricultural enterprises.