On June 19-21, 2019, Kyiv Region hosted the 3^rd Edition of International Field Days Ukraine. Within three days, about two thousands agricultural producers, representatives of agribusiness companies, experts and scientists took advantage of this platform to get acquainted with the latest technologies in agriculture, to share know how and experience with colleagues and experts from the branch.

Over 80 companies and organizations from Ukraine, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands, i.a. producers of modern hybrids and varieties of crops, agrochemical companies, leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery, service providers, educational, scientific and advisory bodies, and specialized media contributed to this year’s event.

The event hosted many guests of honor. The official opening ceremony was attended by the Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Viktor Sheremeta, the Agricultural Attaché of the German Embassy in Ukraine, Hermann Intemann, the First Deputy Head of Kyiv Regional State Administration, Svetlana Svishcheva, the Head of the Committee for Arable Farming of the German Agricultural Society (DLG e.V.), Friedrich Baumgärtel.

In order to celebrate the opening of the event and to draw attention to the importance of introducing new technologies, a “patriotic” record was established – the largest image of the “vyshyvanka” (Ukrainian traditional shirt) ornament (162 meters long, 28 meters wide) was created on the field. The image was made by the Berthoud Raptor 4240 self-propelled sprayer (France) using precision farming technology. The record entered the National Register of Records of Ukraine.

“Soil health is the key to stable yields” – this was the central topic of the technical program of the exhibition, developed by experts of DLG with the support of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany. Useful reports and podium discussions on soil erosion, special exhibition areas “Soil profile “, “Liebig´s barrel”, “Digitalization”, demonstration of technologies for spraying and fertilizing were part of the comprehensive program of the field days.

The training of the Farmer field school on implementation of the conservation agriculture technologies in the forest-steppe zone was held within the framework of the specialized exhibition. The Farmer Field School is an integral component of the project “Integrated Natural Resources Management in Degraded Landscapes in the Forest-Steppe and Steppe Zones of Ukraine”, implemented by the team of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations with the financial support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The “All-Ukrainian Agricultural Quiz” was held by the company August-Ukraine. 58 winners of agricultural contests received valuable gifts.

During the field days, the round table “Governmental farms support in 2019″ was organized under the chairmanship of the Deputy Director of the Department of support for agriculture, co-operation and development of rural territories of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine, Serhiy Shupyk. Participants received the information about the possibilities of farmers’ holders to receive state aid.

Agri Trade Ukraine Project together with the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has organized an agrarian panel discussion “Opportunities and Threats for Agricultural Business in Ukraine”. “Forewarned is forearmed” – this thesis became the main point of the key issue of discussion – raiding.

There were also many useful thematic events for young professionals. On June 20, there was a professional competition for young professionals in agriculture – the contest “Best Young Agronomist 2019.” The winner of the contest was the agronomist of “Podillya Plus” from Khmelnychyna, 26-year-old Vasyl Bezkorovainy, who won the DLG award – the trip to AGRITECHNICA (November 10-16, 2019) to Hanover. Traditionally on the last day of the exhibition, future agricultural experts met on the field: Over 200 participants from 7 agricultural educational institutions took part in the “University on the field” this year.

Yuliya Bondarenko, director of DLG Ukraine: “Despite the extremely high number of events and a difficult season, we are glad that our innovative technology platform has attracted a lot of professionals. Nothing would be possible without our dedicated exhibitors. Additionally, I would like to thank the team of the Institute L. Pogorily for the their great support, teams of DLG Ukraine and IFWexpo Heidelberg for their dedication, as well as volunteers from the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine for their dedicated work. All those involved in the event have made a significant contribution to the exchange of knowledge and the development of business relationships between farmers, producers, distributors, experts and media representatives.”

The organisers of the International Field Days Ukraine are DLG Ukraine and IFWexpo Heidelberg. Professional expertise is provided by the German Agricultural Society (DLG e.V.) and the Institute L. Pogorily. The official partner is the company August-Ukraine, a technical partner – Maschio Gaspardo Ukraine. The general media partner – magazine “Agroexpert”, the main information partner – Propozitsia magazine.