The next day, December 8, included no less interesting program. The conference participants were divided into 2 groups. One group visited the famous berry enterprise "Nikdaria", and the second took part in the first School of Berry Grower with Anna Lutsko. The conference was organized by the media group "Technologies and Innovations", publisher of the popular professional journals: "Berry Field", "Horticulture and Vegetable Growing. Technologies and Innovations", and "Drinks; Beer. Technologies and Innovations".

 

The founders of the media group "Technologies and Innovations", Kateryna KONEVA and Nadiya YASHCHUK emphasized in their welcoming speeches that despite the hard time for us, there is a need to support our berry growers via popularizing the latest technologies and advanced experience. It was noted, that since the beginning of the war, the slogan of our conferences has remained unchanged - "WE LEARN TO WIN", because during our events we really learn to overcome many difficulties during wartime, holding the economic front and thereby contributing to the well-being of the state, providing invincibility against the enemy. The founders of the media group and organizers sincerely thank everyone who in such difficult times for Ukraine was able to come to Rivne from all corners of our country. And, this year`s record - 300 participants were present at the event.

 

Over again, events of the media group "Technologies and Innovations" are supported by the Rivne regional military administration. Director of the Department of Agro-industrial Development of the Rivne Oblast, Nadiya PEREKHODKO emphasized that the Rivne Oblast is a region, 40% of which is covered by forest area and 46% by agricultural land. She noted that one of the major industries in this region is the agricultural sector and is so pleased over again to be invited to the events from the media group "Technologies and Innovations" which is held in our city.  During the first berry conferences, we couldn`t talk much about berry growing in our region, so today, thanks to your work contribution, we can say that berry growing is successfully developing in this region. It`s also worth noting that this year, 3 enterprises in our region received grants for horticulture and berry growing development. Additionally, the grant program "eRobota" is actively used, within which 15 individuals received grants for the berry business development. At the same time, a Swiss program is working in the Rivne region, within which 4 territorial communities won grants for the organic berry growing development. This project involves the construction of a refrigerator, the planting of berry plantations, and the training of specialists.

 

 

 

 

The latest technologies are always in the focus of events organized by the media group "Technologies and Innovations." Thus, innovative technologies for harvesting berry fields, sorting, packing, cooling, and freezing have been presented at the conference. 

 

At the beginning of the conference, the agronomist of “Biochem Agro” company Artur SIZHUK presented Polyversum - a preparation for effective protection against diseases in organic farming. It should be noted that the company "Biochem Agro" is part of the EFT Group, our main technological partner of the conference, together with the companies "ProfPolyv" and "EFT PLUS." During the conference, experts from the EFT Group of companies presented a set of services for arranging a berry field and orchard on turnkey.

 

Artur Sizhuk told us about POLYVERSUM as a highly effective biological preparation for fruit, berry, vegetable, field, technical, and decorative crops. This year, the company "Biochem Agro" presented it for the first time. This biological preparation is extremely effective against a wide range of fungal diseases, including gray rot, anthracnose, late blight, powdery mildew, mildew, oidium, and others. The active substance of the POLYVERSUM is a strain of the Pythium oligandrum mushroom, which is not available on the market in Ukraine. Therefore, plants have no resistance to its action. POLYVERSUM is interesting for those who are engaged in organic farming, as well as for those who want to reduce the chemical impact on fruits at the end of the season. 

 

 

The cluster of Dutch companies "Resilient Ukraine" and its prospects have been introduced by Valeriy LYSHYNSKYI, the director of the company "Rosetta Agro" and co-organizer of the cluster "Resilient Ukraine." Valery Lyashynskyi told us about the creation platform for sharing not only knowledge but also contacts to provide useful information for farmers through the organization of field days, trainings, webinars, etc. If you want to contact the Dutch sector, please contact us and we will help you. Our mission is to give hope and understanding that things will get better. When the war comes to an end, Ukrainian farmers should be ready to go to Europe. 

 

Meanwhile, factors affecting the productivity and profitability of a highbush blueberry plantation were analyzed by Oleg BAZYUK, the founder of Dolyna-Agro. In addition, the General Director of the company "FruTech", Serhiy ZMIYCHUK talked about the promising directions of berry cultivation. The speaker paid attention to the following berry crops: garden strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, and blueberries. According to Serhiy Zmeichuk, the "FruTek" nursery is often visited by experienced farmers and new market players with the same questions about what to plant. However, according to the specialist, a person must understand what he wants to grow, for what, and what he expects to get as a result. 

 

It`s crucial not only to choose high-quality planting material to plant it correctly but also to properly organize the caring process to choose an effective system for plant protection and nutrition. Olena BOLTOVSKA, the project manager of Rosana Biological Solutions and the official representative of Koppert in Ukraine, introduced useful biological organisms in the growing berry crop system. Conference participants also learned about CaliberTM micronized foliar fertilizer, which helps overcome drought and increases plant drought resistance. The fertilizer is approved for use in organic farming. Microbiological products as an element of preservation and reproduction of soil fertility were presented during the speech by Oleksander KARNAUCH, product manager of the Group of Companies "Agro Expert." Serhiy DRAP, product manager for specific crops and bioproducts of the Summit-Agro Ukraine company, got acquainted with current biological solutions for protecting berries from diseases and pests. Volodymyr SILENKO, head of the horticulture and vegetable growing technology support department of the BTU-CENTER company, analyzed biological preparations in organic and integrated berry cultivation technologies.

 

 

Volodymyr OSTAPENKO, the consultant agronomist of the "Eucalypt P" company, our main technological partner of the conference in irrigation, told us about precision irrigation systems in berry growing. He noted that the creation of new plantations is crucial not only in choosing the proper crop, keeping zoning, plots, etc but also in conducting water tests. The main needed tests to determine water quality are pH, iron conductivity, and total carbonates. Another important thing is controlling water consumption because this resource is not unlimited. For this purpose, there are precise sensors designed by our company. Each sensor simultaneously monitors soil pH, moisture, and temperature. This way, you can determine how the root system works and, at the same time, save water, fertilizers, and time.

 

Hanna LUTSKO, agronomist-consultant, the leading specialist of the "ProfAgroBud" company, and an international expert in berry cultivation told the conference participants about innovative berry technologies. The speaker paid attention to intensive and extensive growing technologies and the advantages of growing berries in tunnels, undercover, containers, etc. 

 

Meanwhile, Victor SHULESHKO, a scientist, the owner of the most efficient vertical farm-laboratory in Ukraine, and the founder and CEO of the company "GREEN FUTURE" delivered in his speech about the role of lighting in the year-round berry cultivation. 

 

The problem of spring frosts will soon become relevant. Nataliya LUT, head of the "SAD OK" company, analyzed the new models in the Agrofrost line. In addition, the speaker paid attention to the FrostGuard machine, which has a gas burner and a powerful fan driven by a propane engine, powerful enough to run all night. In particular, Nataliya LUT told that it`s important to use a monitoring system which must be installed exactly on the area that needs to be protected. Sensors should be at the level of lower shoots, leaves or flowers. Such kind of system should be equipped with sensors for measuring both wet and dry temperatures.

 

Daler SAIDOV, the head of the company "Insortex", told us about the "AgroRozvytok" project. In particular, the speaker paid attention to the washing, sorting, and processing of fruit and berry products and effective technological solutions.

 

A special attention has been drawn to innovative solutions for packaging berries, vegetables, and fruits. Oleg LIPISIENKO, commercial director of the company "Elgraf", which became our conference partner for the first time, devoted a speech to the manufacturing of full-color packaging from cardboard, corrugated cardboard, and micro corrugated cardboard, which are safe for packing fresh fruit and berry products. Today, the "Elgraf" company manufactures trays from micro corrugated cardboard (E or F profile) and displays from corrugated cardboard (B, C, and ЕС). The speaker noted that micro corrugated cardboard trays for fruits, vegetables, or berries have many advantages. In particular, one of the technologies we use for their production is changing the properties of cardboard due to an additional barrier covering that improves water and grease resistance.

 

 

 

A discussion panel on the topic: "Berry Growing in the Condition of Martial Law: Sales on the Domestic and Foreign Markets" took place during the conference. Volodymyr PECHKO, head of the "UKRSADVYNPROM" became the moderator of the discussion panel. The director of the company "Sady Polissya" Vadym BORTNIK, the director of the company "Nikdaria" Ihor NITSKEVYCH, the head of the Rivne Regional Association of Farmers and Private Landowners Andriy KUZMYCH, the founder of the Famberry company Serhiy OLSHANSKY took part in the discussion. Roman KROPYVNYTSKY, representative of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, and Andriy KRAVCHENKO, representative of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, have been presented in the online discussion. One of the issues that has been paid attention to is the mechanisms of grant support, lending and other ways of supporting the agricultural sector. The conference was attended by farmers, enterprises, and companies who first visited us and our constant partners and participants. 

 

 

 

Oleg DUBYNA, the development director of the company "Rodonit Agro", shared his impressions about our conference. Exactly one and a half years ago, he visited a conference, organized by the media group "Technologies and Innovations", to present a new product - Nordox 75 WG. It was a little confusing about the number of competitors. However, Vitaly Chata, a farmer from Rivne, came up to me and said that he knew this preparation because he ordered it from Poland. But thanks to the conferences organized by the media group "Technologies and Innovations", I got to know new friends, partners, and clients. And, advice to colleagues: if you want to enter the market with a new product for berry, fruit, or vegetable growing, then you should attend this conference.  

 

 

 

Experienced speakers gathered at the conference on berry growing who shared their experience in this field. Serhiy HORBACH, an agronomist of the company `HarBerry" shared the experience of creating blueberry plantations and what mistakes should be avoided. Bohdan BODNAR, the director of the company "Organic Garden", analyzed the basics and principles of planting and caring for berry fields on slopes and in mountainous terrain. Agronomist consultant Iryna KOBRYNETS delivered a speech about the financial aspects of the berry business and what needs to be taken into account during planting berry fields.

 

The speaker emphasized how important to understand what plant we want to grow and what result we want to get in the future. It`s crucial to determine the level of your knowledge and experience, evaluate resources, and think about sales markets at the same time, the project calculation is also an important part. It`s a necessary moment for understanding which period and how much money we will need. It`s important to understand the cost price of berry to set the eventual price correctly. The cost price consists of your expenses, growing conditions, and your efficiency, for example, manual labor or mechanized, yield level, etc. 

 

The speaker also analyzed what expenses await the manufacturer at the start and talked about the average cost of various studies, permits, etc., as well as the expense for the planting. 

 

According to the specialist, there is no single formula for success in the berry business. Each enterprise has its path of development, depending on the starting positions and set goals. But there are points common to everyone who starts a business, and they should be considered, especially since most of them can be expressed in numbers and applied to almost every agricultural crop.

 

Co-owner of the farm "Kolosok" Iryna BABYCH told the participants of the conference about how to create and develop a berry business, find your consumer, and overcome today`s challenges. Iryna Babych raised an actual issue in her speech about whether or not to start a berry business. The answer was absolute yes, worth it. She said that since 2018, they have gone through ups and downs. But now they are actively developing. And their first garden strawberries plot has been planted in 2018. In 2020, they made a greenhouse-type tunnel and small tunnels under agrofiber to get early fresh berries. At the same time, they started working on creating added-value prices. They created craft ice cream for selling in the local stores and sauces for meat. During the pandemic time, when people were locked down, they started to develop green and gastro tourism and also started the campaign "Pick Up Your Berry." People visited their plantations and picked the berries for themselves. It was especially interesting for children. We are working in this direction even now, although the plantation area has been reduced through the full-scale war.

 

The speech of the founder of the "Brusvyan" nursery, Liliana DMYTRIEVA was devoted to the topic of berry tourism. She noted that the nursery is actively developing berry tourism especially, berry festivals with interesting, funny locations. The berry festival included a seminar, self-picking of berries, etc, being a very successful project. They also organized a berry cross, and athletes gathered at our location. Therefore, berry tourism is interesting for different categories of people: both for a professional audience and for ordinary consumers.

 

 

The grown berry must be safe for consumers. Therefore, it`s important to pass certification for berry companies. Borys SMOLYAR, the chief agronomist of the Blue Berry company, spoke about the experience of growing highbush blueberries according to international standards. The farm recently completed the GLOBALG.A.P certification confirmation process. Blue Berry has been receiving this certificate since 2017, following the current certification requirements every year. GLOBALG.A.P.&GRASP is a "must-have" for the export of berries because approximately half of the harvest goes to the foreign market. Certification helps the team and company to grow. Audit on confirming certification verification GLOBALG.A.P and GRASP at the enterprise takes place every year. Certification involves compliance with many requirements of national and international legislation.

 

The conference participants paid attention to the cultivation of raspberries. Thus, the founder of the company "Dykanski Berries", Roman Tsinchenko dedicated his speech to this berry. The history of the company "Dykanski Berries" began in 2015 in the Poltava region. Today, it is one of the few enterprises in the region that grows raspberries by organic method. At that time, in Poltava and the surrounding regions, there was no one freezing enterprise that had organic certification. In 2016, the company "Dykanski Berries" planted its first 13 hectares of raspberries and started building a cold storage room. Its capacity was 30 tons for storage, 2-3 tons for sorting and shock freezing.

 

 

The speeches of foreign specialists online were powerful. Leon Schreijnwerkes, the owner and director of the Dutch nursery Schrijnwerkers Plants B.V., told participants how to make highbush blueberry fields profitable. Marcel de Jong, an expert in cultivation from the Dutch company Bodem&Groen, analyzed the profitability of using regenerative agriculture in horticulture. Meanwhile, representative of Polish companies Niwa Hodowla Roślin Jagodowych Sp. z o.o., Dr.Berry Sp.z o.o. Dr. Agnieszka Orzeł analyzed the latest developments in raspberry and blackberry breeding in Poland. At the same time, the specialist announced that a new variety of blackberry - PRIMOCANE - will soon appear on the market. It should be noted that the blackberry PRIMOCANE variety is suitable both for processing, for the fresh market, and for mechanical harvesting, because it has an upright habit. The new variety can be grown without a trellis, as the plant is not tall, easy to care for, and the sugar content is 14.5. In addition, the speaker noted that the berries of this variety have high taste properties.

 

An exclusive berry - rosehip was highlighted at the discussion by the conference participants. Pavlo ROHOZA, commercial director of the company "Shypshyna Ukraina", devoted his speech to this berry. According to the speaker, the perspective of rosehip is that the term of use of the plantation is about 15-20 years in a row. In addition, this berry is frost- and drought-resistant, resistant to diseases and pests as well. Thanks to the late flowering in the second half of May, it gives good harvests.

 

The prospects of sea buckthorn, haskap berry, rosehip, elderberry, and currant were analyzed by Oleksandr Yareshchenko, deputy director for scientific work, and plant breeder of the Institute of Horticulture of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Among the wide list of berry crops, the speaker paid attention to haskap berry, which has taken its niche in the fresh market segment. This year showed a demand for this berry on the fresh market. There is evident potential in developing the haskap berry processing products market. However, there is a risk that the market for haskap berries is limited, at the same time, the processing market has not yet formed. Therefore, it’s important to develop the marketing of both this berry and other niche berry crops in addition.

 

The director of Korets-Sad enterprise Vitaliy Chata, who is our constant participant, shared his pleasant impressions from the conference. In particular, he noted that he often attends conferences, organized by the media group "Technologies and Innovations", to meet with friends, learn something new and share own experience.

 

 

 

For the third time during the berry conference, the 3rd International Congress on Freezing, Processing, and Cold Logistics of Products from berry, orchard, and vegetable farmers was organized. Congress participants discussed current issues related to freezing fruit and vegetable products, such as proper product preparation for freezing, effective organization of freezing, processing and cold logistics, selection of equipment, etc.

 

More than 60 farmers who grow berries, representatives of processing and freezing enterprises, and manufacturers of equipment for processing and processing berry products took part in the All-Ukrainian Congress on Freezing, Processing, and Cold Logistics. In addition, a discussion panel on "Freezing and other types of berry processing: practitioners` experience" Export. Work in the realities of wartime" took place during the congress, and was moderated by Oleg YAKYMETS, a consultant for freezing berries and vegetables. The director of the "Yarofruit" company Vitaliy SYDORENKO, the head of the "ARTYKA-BIO" company Serhiy Sukhyna, the director of the "Agro Dolce" company Vitaliy ZAKHARCHUK, the director of the "Berry Trade" enterprise Yosyp KNYZHYTSKY, Andriy PRYLUTSKY, and the owner of the BIO BERRY company Dzyaltuvas EDVINAS took part in the discussion.

 

 

The fact that the industry of freezing fruit and berry products is developing here, despite the wartime, is shown through the opening of new facilities. It especially helps not only the budget of Ukraine but also provides new jobs. The experience of building a freezing enterprise from scratch was shared during the congress by Roman VUIKIV, the director of the Kamianka-Buzky plant of food products.

 

He noted that the building of the plant started in 2021, not so far before the start of full-scale war. Despite all the difficulties, we managed to build a large processing plant with an area of 4.5 thousand m2 and a capacity of 3 tons of frozen berries per hour. But with such a large-scale building project is important to calculate everything carefully and design it correctly. In such a difficult time, we are building a new Ukraine, so now more than ever it`s crucial to create new enterprises, invest in them, increase production, and move towards victory.

 

 

Volodymyr MAZIN, the representative of the company Tolsma, told all details about the current and effective solutions for sorting not only fresh blueberries, cherries, and nuts but also frozen berries. Different products dictate different requirements for cooling and freezing, which means that manufacturers need carefully choose the proper technologies. Oleksander SHEIKO, the director of the "4 Stykhii" company, spoke about various technologies and types of berry freezing and cooling and prospects for the future. An extremely important role in the work of any enterprise is ruling occupational health and safety in obtaining certification, which is sought by many companies.

 

Marta SHAVEL, a leading specialist in labor protection and industrial safety of the "100 Service" company, provided more details about this topic. Regional representative of the company "LLENTAB" Andriy VASYLYK told about reliable solutions for enterprises for product processing and storage to ensure reliable functioning of production. Ruslan SEREDA, a representative of the company "Bioconcept-Gardenia Ukraine", introduced the trends of the European frozen berry market and the peculiarities of the 2023 season from the importer`s point of view.

 

Ivan KOTYASH, the founder of "Malyn Factory" emphasized in his speech about cooperation and diversification of various types of processing for fruits, vegetables, and other products. He came up to the conclusion, after analyzing the global processing market, that this direction has a great perspective. Now is the time to grow products for their processing, build new cold storage rooms, and scale up the existing ones.

 

 

 

At the end of the conference, the 7th Charity Auction took place with the support of the "Strong and Free" Charity Fund. There were a lot of raffle lots presented by our partner companies: "EFT Plus", "100 Service", "Summit-Agro Ukraine", "FruTech", "Rosana", "Eucalipt P", "Brusvyana", "Agritema", "Ekoorganik", "Berry Side of Life", "Plastmodern", "FamBerry", BTU-CENTER, "Ceres Ukraine", "Vimagro", cooperative "Berry Paradise", Strong Distillery. Also, during the charity auction, certificates for subscription to a set of journals of the media group "Technologies and Innovations" were raffled. 

 

In total, we collected about UAH 40,000. These funds will be for purchasing ammunition for a soldier fighting in the Bakhmut direction and heaters for the military. Thank you to everyone who participated in the charity auction!

 

 

 

On the second day of the conference, December 8, the participants were divided into two groups that worked in parallel. One group went on a business tour to the “Nikdaria” enterprise in Zhytomyr Oblast. The participants of the other group visited the School of the Berry Grower with international expert Hanna Lutsko, which was held for the first time during the conference.

 

Ihor Nitskevich, the director of the company "Nikdaria", met the participants of the business tour to conduct a tour of the company. Nikdaria (TM iBerry) is one of the most innovative companies in Ukraine, which grows highbush blueberries in an area of more than 160 hectares. The company`s assortment includes also asparagus, haskap berry, sweet corn, and watermelon.

 

 

First, the participants of the business tour visited a highbush blueberry plantation, where the chief agronomist of the enterprise, Yuriy BELALOV, carried out a master class on pruning blueberries. Vladyslav RAZKEVICH, co-owner of the company "Eucalipt P", explained in detail how the company`s irrigation system is set up and what nuances should be taken into account while equipping its plantations with an irrigation system. The guests also got acquainted with the operation of the refrigerator, modern sorting and packaging lines. The participants of the business tour put so many important questions to Ihor Nitskevich Therefore, there was a lively discussion at the Nikdaria enterprise.

 

School of the Berry Grower with Hanna Lutsko was attended by almost 60 participants. Among the listeners were both experienced berry growers and beginners. The specialist focused on questions about the peculiarities of root and leaf nutrition of berry crops and the hormonal plant background. In particular, the listeners learned about the effect of soil acidity on the assimilation of nutrients, the role of soil microflora in berry nutrition, the importance of hormones and hormonal balance in the growth and development of berry crops, the role of mineral elements in the berry nutrition, highbush blueberry requirements for growing conditions, features of garden strawberry nutrition, recommendations for fertilizing raspberries in the soil, etc. As a result, listeners received valuable recommendations on the nutrition of highbush blueberries, garden strawberries, and raspberries.