Nor-Est Agro Determines Productivity Through Satellites

Overview: About Nor-Est Agro

Nor-Est Agro is a Ukrainian company specializing in supplying products for the agricultural sector, including plant protection products, seeds, and synthetic and special fertilizers. Founded in 2013, it became part of the international group Roar Paulsrud AS Group, which has headquarters in Norway. The company operates its own logistics system and a network of warehouses throughout Ukraine. They offer agtech support, including agronomy consultations and monitoring of crop conditions.

Nor-Est Agro actively supports the development of agriculture, working in 22 regions across Ukraine and serving over 4,000 regular customers. Their mission is to implement modern solutions to enhance the efficiency of agricultural business.

Challenge: Post-Factum Product Effectiveness Analysis

To improve technological solutions, Nor-Est Agro is more than a simple distributor; it monitors product performance with its customers. Typically, the analysis is carried out after harvest and compares the conditions of crops and soils in the customer’s fields with those in a control plot. However, it is crucial to account for the impact of droughts, excessive rains, or pests and diseases during the agricultural production cycle.

The company needed a tool capable of analyzing the impact of their technological solutions on crop yield and growth dynamics during vegetation. Since Nor-Est Agro has many customers and plots, this needed to cover large areas without the need to visit each plot in person.

Solution: Vegetation Indices, Weather And Temperature Data

The company’s specialists used our crop monitoring system in several different cases.

The first case was in the western regions of Ukraine. Oleksandr Malenkyi, an agronomist-consultant from the technology support department of Nor-Est Agro in the Western region, shared his story. To determine the effectiveness of his crop care system, Oleksandr used analytics based on NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index). This index helped him assess the vegetation levels on the partner’s field, where a third of this area was allocated for experiments. The image below shows the test plot. The lower, lighter part of the field indicates where the company’s products were tested.

I used this tool to monitor Stability Platforms. Here are the areas where Nor-Est Agro technological solutions were applied. Satellite image analysis clearly highlighted the areas where we conducted experiments.

Oleksandr Malenkyi

Agronomist-consultant of the technology support department of “Nor-Est Agro,” Western region

The team also used EOSDA Crop Monitoring to assess productivity differences between two soybean varieties in the same field. The NDVI map clearly showed the maturity groups of the varieties, helping identify which ones matured earlier and which ones matured later. The yellow rectangle in the image above highlights the area where the varieties were tested. Vegetation indices revealed the difference between the part of the field treated with Nor-Est Agro solutions and the rest of the field treated by the farmer’s system.

Oleksandr used other parameters as well. Over the past few years, he has observed weather changes in all regions of Ukraine. EOSDA Crop Monitoring allows users to see historical weather data and satellite images, so Oleksandr used this opportunity to analyze certain fields from 2018. Usually, there was not much precipitation during March-April to support soil water supply for germination and early crop development. However, after 2018, these months became consistently dry, with precipitation shifting to May and June. This significantly affected plant development stages.

There are many ways to impact and adjust these processes, but first, we need to identify such trends and predict how the situation will develop during the planting season. Oleksandr used Weather Data Analytics — specifically, precipitation and temperature conditions — for each field over the past five years and the current year. His analysis focused on soybean development stages in 2024, particularly examining the precipitation levels in this region. He also aimed to compare how the two varieties performed under uneven precipitation and prolonged dry periods.

Based on this data, it was possible to determine specific recommendations for the next sowing year and develop customized products for each crop growth and development stage. For example, technologies for preserving moisture reserves to prevent soil dehydration during drought were proposed, as well as using stimulators to strengthen the root system and indirectly influence its development.

Serhii Plishak, an agronomist-consultant from the technology support department of “Nor-Est Agro” in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions, also implemented EOSDA Crop Monitoring. He used NDVI to determine the effectiveness of fungicides and micro-fertilizers. The vegetation index allows to do this effectively and in advance before field visits and conducting direct analysis under field conditions.

This tool also indicated the main factor that influenced the difference in yield in neighboring fields. From June 20, 2024, to harvest time, precipitation was 35% below the average annual level, and there were more than 15 days with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celcius. Meanwhile, one neighboring field received 40 mm of precipitation – exceeding the average daily norm for this time of year. This local rain did not even affect the adjacent fields. Such information allows professionals from Nor-Est Agro to account for all the factors influencing their testing.

Drones cannot detect changes in the fields right now due to active hostilities in Ukraine. The drone simply won’t return. But all this information is visible from the satellite. And the problem can be seen before going to the site.

Serhii Plishak

Agronomist-consultant of the technology support department of “Nor-Est Agro,” Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions

Serhii also tested the weather analytics, determining post-factum how the temperature changed during the year. He had three different plots, distant from each other. They were located within 20 km and were sown with different crops. Due to extreme heat and frost, crops in all three fields failed. Weather data analytics allowed Serhii to determine which temperature fluctuations and precipitation became fatal for these crops.

During the 2024 planting season, Nor-Est Agro specialists used EOSDA Crop Monitoring to regularly monitor partners’ plots, adjust their recommendations in a timely manner, and track the impact on yields.

The EOSDA Crop Monitoring platform is particularly interesting for farms without agronomists who can monitor fields remotely. When monitoring multiple farms, it becomes possible to analyze them remotely within a short time each morning: assess the state of the crops and identify changes over a day, week, or compared to the previous year. For instance, large farms where physically monitoring the entire territory is challenging can benefit greatly. We work with such partners and offer them this platform.

Serhii Plishak

Agronomist-consultant of the technological support department of “Nor-Est Agro,” Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions

Outcome: Determining Product Effectiveness At The Crop Development Stage, Better Partners Awareness

Despite the relatively short period of using EOSDA Crop Monitoring — just one season — the platform has already brought significant benefits to Nor-Est Agro. On the plot discussed by Oleksandr, the portion of the field where the company’s technologies were applied showed improved yield results. The increase in soybean yield compared to traditional practices was from 0.25 to 0.3 t/ha. On other fields with wheat and rapeseed, the yield increase was 0.2 and 0.1 t/ha, respectively, demonstrating the effectiveness of the technology.

Nor-Est Agro continues implementing practical solutions, supporting Ukrainian farmers nationwide despite challenging circumstances and global weather changes. Their work has become more efficient using EOSDA Crop Monitoring technologies. This platform has enabled specialists to respond promptly to field conditions and provided their partners better yield outcomes.

Our short and long-term goals include developing the satellite analysis project within our company and integrating it into our stability platforms to monitor our crop surveys. We aim to continue using the EOSDA Crop Monitoring platform, expand its application, enhance our knowledge, and assist farmers.

Oleksandr Malenkyi

Agronomist-consultant of the technology support department of “Nor-Est Agro,” Western region

EOS Data Analytics is always glad to help Ukrainian agriculture with cutting-edge technologies. We will be happy to make your work easier and support you on your way.