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Automation Project at Plodorodie Agribusiness Holding Named Best IT Project in Agriculture at Global CIO Competition

A complex automation project undertaken by Plodorodie Agribusiness Holding (a member of Acron Group) won the 2019 Global CIO Project of the Year award for best IT project in the agricultural industry.

The project, aimed at streamlining cooperation between Plodorodie’s production sites, involved a complete infrastructure overhaul, with installation of a high-speed Internet connection, structured cabling, and a telepresence system; transition to an ERP system integrated with the Acron treasury system; installation of Agrosignal and Ag Leader systems for data exchange; construction of automobile weighing complexes; and the launch of a budget planning module.

The project also involved the modernisation of uncontrolled engine-driven agricultural equipment, development of an unmanned aerial system for multispectral survey, and the introduction of a yield-mapping system. A separate project was launched to manage products through end-to-end control of feedstock flow, introduce electronic field data sheets and automatic control of field work, and install weather stations in order to process weather data, plan optimal timing for agricultural operations, and forecast the appearance of weather-sensitive pests.

Alexei Kuchin, Head of Plodorodie’s Automation and System Integration Department, who oversaw the complex automation project, commented: “We are grateful to our colleagues in the industry for their support and recognition of our success. The Plodorodie Agribusiness Holding faces a number of ambitious tasks for automating our business processes, and we will continue to leverage innovative solutions”.

The Global CIO competition is the first event in the domestic IT industry where IT directors evaluate companies’ design achievements. In 2019, the competition’s eighth year, over 1,400 projects were submitted for review, with participating IT directors from Gazprom Neft, Aeroflot, Rostelecom, Norilsk Nickel, Russian Railways, and other large companies.

In 2008, Acron Group established Plodorodie Agribusiness Holding to implement agricultural projects, test the Group’s advanced fertiliser brands, and improve application techniques. Plodorodie comprises four agribusiness companies: Kubris (Krasnodar Krai), Zvyaginki (Orel region), Plodorodie-Lukoyanov (Nizhny Novgorod region), and Plodorodie-Saratov (Saratov region), with a total area of 95,000 hectares.