Interview with Inventor

Interview with Prof. Alexey Salnikov Concerning a Unit to Introduce Solid Organic Fertilizers

– How did you get upon the idea to invent this unit?

– Nowadays it’s necessary to provide a more productive and regular distribution of fertilizers as wide as a unit can grip; it’s also necessary to make it possible to mix fertilizers with soil efficiently. This is how we hit upon the idea to invent this unit.

– Who developed this product?

– Our team of inventors includes Professor Valentin Abezin (he specializes in agricultural machinery and in resource-saving soil-protecting technologies); Professor Alexey Salnikov (that is, me), Head of the Chair of Agricultural Engineering, Melioration, & Agricultural Ecology of Astrakhan State University (I specialize in land management modeling, in ecological management, in sustainability and degradation of ecosystems, in modeling of crisis processes in landscapes, and in soil melioration); Dr. Valeriy Rudenko (he specializes in technologies and machinery for the agricultural industry); our Assistant Ms. Olga Bespalova (she specializes in resource-saving technologies and in waste-free processing of agricultural produce).

– What are the functions of your unit?

– Our unit mixes solid organic fertilizers with the upper layer of soil and works as follows. A body assembled on a chassis that’s linked with a tractor by means of a trailer; its cardan shaft is linked to the power takeoff shaft of the tractor. Thus, all the mechanisms work as a single unit. Solid organic fertilizers are loaded into the body, and the unit goes to a field. Before introducing the fertilizers, the power takeoff shaft is switched on. The conveyor shifts the fertilizers to the grinding unit, which moves the ground fertilizers into the casing of the screw distributor; they are mixed, as the distributor rotates and shifts them from its center to its periphery. Teeth grasp the fertilizers and mix them with soil as they’re introduced there. Distribution of open slots and laps provides a regular supply of fertilizers to the ripper roller, as well as their regular distribution in the root-inhabited layer of soil.

Thanks to the cutting edge of reverse cutters at the sliding friction angle, fertilizers are introduced into soil with minimal energy consumption. Installation of a lead-controlled ripper roller makes it possible for that roller to copy the soil surface and introduce fertilizers efficiently. Application of open slots and laps in the screw casing provides a regular supply of fertilizers to the ripper roller, as well as their regular distribution and effective introduction into the root-inhabited layers of soil. Such an introduction of fertilizers improves productivity of agricultural crops significantly.

– In what sphere is your unit applicable?

– Our invention relates to agricultural mechanical engineering, in particular – to machines that introduce organic fertilizers into soil. It can be used at farms to cultivate agricultural crops.

– What’s the value of your invention for the regional and national economy?

– When agricultural crops are cultivated, it’s crucial to introduce fertilizers according to the calculated norms and adjust the unit to the actual concentration of the fertilizing substance. No deviations from the concentration rate specified in the certificate are acceptable.

Current Russian agricultural regulations allow irregular distribution of fertilizers throughout the field surface. This is due mainly to constructional defects of units: their low productivity and impossibility to mix fertilizers with soil effectively. Resolution of these problems helps provide a more productive and regular distribution of fertilizers as wide as a unit can grip, thanks to which plants will assimilate fertilizers the best way possible, while profitability of agricultural production will increase due to a higher productivity rate.

– Any contacts with investors and partners?

– There are two options to commercialize our invention. One of them is to sell our exclusive patent rights to groups of companies that manufacture agricultural machinery, so that they manufactured and sold a particular product. We might also manufacture and sell this product ourselves. Both strategies have their specific features, which we are thinking over now.

Interviewed by T.Yu. Gavrilkina (the Web Resources Information Support Directorate of ASU)

May 06, 2016

Translated by E.I. Glinchevskiy (the Center of Translation Studies & Conference Interpreting “ASTLINK” of ASU)