Meet the upgraded Avatar

Sowing machinery is represented in the Russian market by hundreds of domestic and foreign brands. However, only a few of them can actually deliver efficient performance in challenging conditions. One of such exceptional machines, an upgraded Horsch Avatar SD, is now in AgroCentre’s product portfolio.

The Horsch Avatar SD was unveiled at Agritechnica 2015. One of the competitive advantages of the new seed drill was the direct seeding function, extremely popular with no-till farmers. The next year, the machine was showcased at Agrosalon 2016 in Moscow, however, due to a number of reasons, it was not launched onto the Russian market at that time. Only in 2020, Horsch has announced the start of sales of the Avatar SD in Russia.

‘AgroCentre was one of the first dealers to introduce the Horsch Avatar SD to Russian farmers’, says Nikolay Kunitsin, Sales Director, AgroCentreLiski. ‘It is an incredibly versatile machine. It can be used on light, heavy, stony or clay soils. Besides, the unit is perfectly suited for no-till.’

AgroCentre’s portfolio includes two models of the drill: the 6SD (working width 6 m, total weight 9,300 kg) and the 12SD (working width 12 m, total weight 19,000 kg). The Avatar SD features SingleDisc coulters, which guarantee optimum seed to soil contact for quick and safe emergence. The integrated weight transfer system ensures high coulter pressure of up to 350 kg over the entire working width.

‘The seed coulters are designed to eliminate clogging’, continues Nikolay Kunitsin. ‘Thus, the machine can easily operate in the fields with a lot of residue or in cover crop fields.’

The depth control wheel and the reinforced frame allow for a uniform placement depth. The press wheel enables optimum firming of the seed at the bottom of the furrow providing good access to the moisture inside the soil. The row spacing at a 6-metre working width is 16.7 cm, the hopper capacity is 5,000 l. At a 12-metre working width, the row spacing is 25 cm and the hopper capacity is 5,800 l.

‘AgroCentre has shown us all the advantages of the Horsch Avatar 12SD’, says Anton Malkov, Manager of Eko-Agroferma Mikhailovskaya farming enterprise (Ryazan oblast). ‘We practiceno-till, so this seed drill is a perfect solution for us. One of the major problems with the no-till technology is that the space between the coulters often gets clogged up with soil and crop residue. With Horsch Avatar 12SD, we can forget about this issue. The machine is efficient and user-friendly, it can operate at a high speed. We are very happy with this robust and powerful unit.’

A few years ago, Horsch upgraded the Avatar SD seed drill. Now the operator can adjust coulter pressure depending on the soil type right from the cabin. Optimum coulter pressure ensures high-quality sowing even in extreme weather and soil conditions.

‘This year, we have focused on demo shows’, points out Nikolay Kunitsin. ‘We have arranged field tests in Ryazan, Lipetsk, Krasnodar, Penza, Tambov and Oryol oblasts. The seed drill performed very well. We have already made the first deals and set quite ambitious sales targets for next season.’

By Viktor BARGOTIN