On February 22, 2018, the IV British Ukrainian Agribusiness Forum “Sustainable development in agribusiness” was held within the framework of the VIII International Grain Tech Expo. The event was organized by the British Embassy in Ukraine jointly with the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club and Baker Tilly.

The forum attended by leading British, Ukrainian and international agricultural companies, was dedicated to the topics of sustainable development in crop and livestock farming.

Great Britain is a world leader in agricultural technology, innovation and sustainable development, using opportunities to develop and use of new and existing technologies, products and services to improve productivity. The agricultural contribution to the British economy is GBP 9 bln. The agricultural business of the country also forms the basis for the food industry, whose profit is GBP 26 bln.

Oleksandr Baskov, Baker Tilly, spoke about biogas complexes for small and medium-sized farms: «In essence, biogas complexes differ from the rest of the projects that received a green tariff. It is false to estimate the value and payback of biogas plants only from the point of view of selling electricity by the green tariff. If so, then biogas plants are least attractive compared to the sun, wind and other biomass. The biosphere complex should be considered as a key link in the agro-livestock complex, which closes the chain and creates value added for the rest of the elements, namely: use of silage, processing of animal and vegetable waste, receiving biowaste and heat producing. There is a demand for biogas complexes, but the price and incorrect assessment kills this demand. Only a comprehensive assessment of all opportunities and risks shows that in the medium and long term small and medium-sized companies cannot do without biogas plants».

Oksana King, representative of Rezatec Company, spoke of satellite data to improve land asset management. Today, agriculture faces many challenges. Some of the problems that arise in this sector include overcoming unpredictable weather events, as well as long-term climate change, interruptions of water supply due to drought and flood, changing of soil conditions, the need to control the impact of mineral fertilizers and pesticides on the environment and meeting the world's growing demand for basic goods such as wheat, sugar, palm oil, soybeans and beef, while ensuring the stability of the supply chain. In order to achieve these goals, it is necessary to optimize the production and reduce the prices.

«In Europe, agrarians are achieving results through the use of data and innovative areas of agriculture. They know how to manage their resources, soil and take on the challenges of climate change. Satellite information helps us. We collect satellite data, combine it with weather information, and then use agrometeorological and biophysical data to accurately predict and optimize yields. At the macroeconomic level, precise forecasting of crop yields can help to alleviate adverse market reactions due to possible food shortages and ultimately contribute to food security», - Oksana King commented.

Ivan Kal'kovets, representative of agricultural company «Danosha», shared information on the additional income from investing in biogas: «The main raw material for biogas production is farmyard manure. It is possible to obtain biogas at its base with the use of additional components, such as silage, maize. Cow's farm waste and dry fraction are also used for biogas production. The quantity and quality of biogas depends on the raw material - the quality of maize, farmyard manure and dry fraction. Technology we use is anaerobic mesophilic fermentation. In the results we have 1100 kW / 480 m3 of biogas. In addition, biogas plant can theoretically produce bio fertilizers that accelerate the process of seeds germination, increase the percentage of their similarity, promote faster growth of plants».

Biogas plants can be used for processing of production wastes (dairy plants, sugar factories, alcohol plants, farms). The economic efficiency of processing will be higher under the following conditions: fertilizer slurry after fermentation can be used not only as fertilizer but also for the production of protein-vitamin concentrate as a feed additive.