Proper grain care means increasing yield
Agricultural industry: Crop handling is an essential technology in a modern world that has to feed an ever-growing population. On the basis of a holistic approach, Cimbria, Denmark has accumulated world-renowned expertise and insight in providing solutions for every field of crops and products.
Each year, more than 10 per cent of all crops grown worldwide are destroyed. That is roughly equivalent to all the grain grown throughout Europe. This destruction takes place after harvesting and during storage, as a result of incorrect storage and incorrect handling. Since the Earth’s population is also growing with disturbing rapidity – in 2050 there will be approximately 10 billion people to feed – one of the most important ways of optimising the yield of the harvest is to avoid destruction of the harvested grain.
Increased population growth and increased impact on the resources of nature also add up to an environmental problem.
The Danish company Cimbria has made it a life’s work to do something about this. Through research and product development of grain drying and grain cleaning equipment, as well as research into a large number of other disciplines connected with foodstuffs and the environment, Cimbria has become a global leader as a producer of machinery and ready-made equipment for the treatment of grain, seeds, rice and maize, as well as equipment for applications related to energy and the environment.
“Modern grain treatment is a matter of taking into account nature’s resources in as efficient and controlled a process as possible,” says Ole Toftdahl Olesen, managing director of Cimbria. “To the farmer, it’s a matter of economics. He needs to maximise his yields without impacting the environment. There is good reason why our motto is ’Better technology for a better environment’.”
Besides being a machine manufacturing and engineering firm, Cimbria has also set up its own Cimbria Academy, carrying out research and development on the storage and treatment of all known types of grain throughout the world. The Cimbria Academy is also a centre for the education and training of people who are to operate Cimbria’s plants. The results of the research being undertaken at the Cimbria Academy have been published in the book ’Grain Drying’, used as a fundamental textbook by agricultural universities throughout most of the world.
“However much theory you can internalise about grain drying and grain treatment, the practical work is what really counts,” says Toftdahl Olesen.
“Regrettably, we have seen all too many examples of the industrialised world in its truest sense selling large, complex equipment to Third-World grain producers, only to see these plants being run into the ground because of poor training of the people operating them. Our philosophy is based on a holistic approach. To begin with, we enter into an in-depth dialogue with our customers regarding their needs. Then we tailor the plants on a completely individual basis. They could be individual machines or customised plants, processing equipment or complete turnkey plants for the handling and storage of crops –and products for the industry. Grain, seed, rice, maize, cotton, coffee, feedstuffs, powder, granules and many more. In addition to what we know about individual crops, we possess in-depth specialist knowledge in every field of crops and products – cleaning, grading, drying, storage, conveying and outloading – with projecting and process control as particularly demanding fields of competence,” Toftdahl Olesen says.
There are several thousand plants set up all over the world bearing the Cimbria logo. They operate under different climatic conditions, but all just as efficiently.
“Modern grain drying is simply a question of drying the largest possible quantities of grain in the shortest possible time – using the least energy,” says Toftdahl Olesen.
By far the greatest growth areas for grain treatment equipment, according to Toftdahl Olesen, are the big grain-producing countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
“Huge quantities of grain are produced there, and huge quantities are also lost because of poor storage and poor post-processing. The grain producers are well aware of this, too, and they want to learn about the equipment and purchase it. But money is tight. That’s why one of our main action areas at the moment is giving advice on financing the equipment. Up until just five years ago, 25 per cent of our turnover was based on various government aid projects. Now that figure has been reduced to five per cent, and the countries that previously received development aid are really feeling the pinch. Commercialisation has become much stronger – for better or worse.”
Further information is available at www.cimbria.com, where a description can be found of Cimbria’s activities all over the world.
www.cimbria.com
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