Interview with Sergii Mezin, Olmix’s Sales Manager in Ukraine, on the spring season and the current agricultural situation.
Hosted in Kyiv (Ukraine) the recent AgroSpring trade fair, where Olmix was involved together with Service Agrozakhid, was the perfect spot for the Plant Care team to meet up with many customers and partners and discuss some of the latest strategies that the company is implementing both in the country and internationally to cope with challenges such as how to secure yield and quality in a climate change context and the expectation of markets for greener solutions.
Sergii Meziin, Olmix’s Sales Manager in Ukraine, gives his views on the fair, the Olmix’s partnership with Service Agrozakhid, and shares some thoughts on the current agricultural situation and the changes that the industry is experiencing.
How is the Olmix Plant Care team in Ukraine coping with the pandemic challenge?
The COVID-19 outbreak showed us just how quickly life can change. As every company on the market, Olmix Group is being forced to change the approach to work. Our team is adapting to stay on track during this unprecedented time where there is a lack of direct and personal contact, no visibility, traveling restrictions… So now it is more important than ever to listen to our existing customers and to use a proactive way by making the most of all online and digital tools. It is vital to maintain a strong relationship with our distributor to keep being motivated, productive and sharing goal progresses.
In a current global-pandemic context, what were the expectations around the AgroSpring fair?
To be honest, we were not expecting that great success in terms of attendance but also in terms of support. Everyone knows how the pandemic is affecting businesses all around the world and it was like everybody at the fair and our booth wanted to share some kind and encouraging messages during this hard time. Of course, it was also special to eventually get back to meet with our customers and partners, and we have to say that quite a lot of visitors showed great interest in our strategies for Plant Care Management; the global feeling was that everyone was keen on getting things back to normal when it comes to business relationships and we were very pleased with the outcome of the event.
Olmix at the AgroSpring fair.
What would you highlight from this year’s edition? What is your feedback?
This time we focused our efforts on the Algomel PUSH program, which is key to the first spring light and to push crops out of winter time. We have some outstanding results in the field with this range and we were proud to share them with everyone concerned in issues such as plant resistance to stress, optimization of nutrient uptake, or development of yield components.
What were visitors main concerns regarding plant production?
In this period of the year farmers are concerned about the transition from winter to spring which means to adapt and prepare crops for a whole new season. Luckily for us, we have come up with concrete programs to help professional meet their specific needs and as a result reach their goals. In early spring it is important to boost crop optimization through the leaf on top of the basic soil improvement and fertilization practices. So, generally speaking, these were the main concerns from visitors.
You say that the Algomel ranges raised great interest during the fair. What is it that makes this range unique?
Algomel PUSH is a must-have asset that made its place in the large portfolio of our distributor due to its capacity to support plant in catching the first spring light and to boost its development in the early season. This means that it leads to higher yield and better crop quality. Several tests in the field have shown a clear efficacy of the product under stress conditions: it supports and keeps the plant processes active much longer than other products.
The red seaweed extract within Algomel PUSH enhances root development, which significantly increases the nutrient uptake capacity, and the contribution of manganese improves energy storage, conversion, and vegetative growth.
Olmix at the AgroSpring fair.
Algomel Push.
What’s the key point of the successful partnership of Olmix and Service Agrozakhid?
The partnership between our Ukrainian distributor Service Agrozakhid and Olmix has found common ground from the very beginning. The key points of this successful relationship are, on the one hand, a great and committed sales force along with a deep knowledge of the market and, in the other hand, an innovative and powerful technology to improve the profitability of crops and secure the harvest. These are the main strengths of our partnership.
What are your views around the current national and even international agricultural situation?
We are living in a new agricultural era and I think it is important to support the agro-ecological transition that this new cycle needs. We have to implement a new way of production to allow farmers reduce the use of pesticides and chemical products but with profitable results. The market is demanding that clearly, so it is our responsibility to meet this need. On our side, through our ranges of innovative products, both under the form of final products or ingredients, and with the collaboration of distributors and integrators, we have proved that there is a way to reconcile economic and environmental performances in agriculture.
How can the Olmix’s strategies help face these current and future challenges?
In a continuous changing context Olmix’s strategies evolve every day based on a strong technical and scientific partnership all over the world. As I said Olmix is a key player within the ecological transition of agriculture and the company makes a great effort to seek and develop biosolutions to reduce the use of synthetis chemical inputs or to develop revolutionary technologies based on renewable raw materials. Our experience has enabled us to supply ready-to-use biosolutions for end users and active ingredients to industrial manufacturers. This global approach combines adapted and innovative agronomic practices with performing biosolutions to improve the 3 key factors: soil quality, plant nutrition and crop resistance.
