Flax production and perspectives of development in the central and north-western agricultural zones of the Kurgan region

The soil and climatic conditions of the Kurgan region are favorable for the cultivation of most crops, including oil flax. We analyzed the reporting data of agricultural producers of the central and north-western agroclimatic zones of the Kurgan region for 2017-2019. In 2019, the total sowing area under oil flax in administrative districts amounted to 16473 ha. The gross seed yield was 21.6 thousand tons, the average seed yield was 1.13 ton per ha. More than 79% of the sowing areas were concentrated in the Shadrinsky, Shchuchansky and Shumikhinsky districts. In 2019, the sowing area under oil flax increased by 1.91 times in all the observed administrative districts compared to 2017. Productivity varies over the years, which is primarily associated with the conditions of moisture and heat supply of the growing season. Oil flax provides an average yield increase of 0.01-0.04 t per ha per 10 kg of active substance of nitrogen fertilizers depending on soil and weather conditions. The increase in sowing areas ensured an increase in the total seeds yield from 7075 tons in 2017 to 21,654 tons in 2019. As to January 1, 2020, the leading positions in the oil flax seeds production are held by “Rassvet”-Ltd. and “Volna”-Ltd. in the Shadrinsky district and “APO «MUZA» in the Shchuchansky region. In these farms, over the past three years, sowing areas under oil flax have increased more than nine times. At the same time, gross output increased by more than ten times.