Lazarevskoye agricultural holding with its project on non-invasive weighing of animals was shortlisted in the "AgroTech Startup of the Year" nomination at the All-Russian AgroTech award AgroCode Awards.

In 2023, Lazarevskoye agricultural holding, together with the Digital Transformation team of Sberbank's Central Russian Bank and Innopolis, began work on an IT startup for non-invasive weighing, as well as the development of an artificial intelligence-based decision support information system for pig farming. In June 2023, the first prototype of the project was launched, calculating the weight of pigs using a regression weight prediction model. As of now, the weight determination module has been improved with the introduction of a combined approach incorporating various algorithms, which has reduced the error rate to 2.8%. This innovative technology will help businesses significantly reduce running costs and minimize losses and net costs. Using the Lazarevskoye pig farm as an example (60,000 heads), the economic efficiency of using the technology will amount to more than 50 million rubles per annum.

To implement the project, a dataset was compiled from videos of 300 days of pig fattening, with more than 3,000 frames marked up manually, algorithms for automatic frame marking developed, and research was carried out to train artificial intelligence to determine the weight of pigs. Furthermore, together with DaSystems, the Pigs Scale back-office system was created, designed to manage AI modules and collect the necessary statistical information to build predictive analytics.

The next stages of the project will include optimization of AI modules, transfer of information systems to the equipment of the Lazarevskoye agricultural holding, development of reporting modules in Pigs Scale system, as well as the beginning of trial operation on 2-4 machines (up to 200 animals).

The non-invasive weighing technology will first be tested at the pig complex of the Lazarevskoye agricultural holding, and in 2025 it will be ready for replication in Russia and the BRICS countries. Negotiations with interested farms are already underway. This project was included in the shortlist of agricultural startups of the year.

Kristina Romanovskaya's achievements in working on the quality of business processes, digitalization of production and her contributions to the popularization of agriculture were also highly praised by the AgroTech Award jury. The head of the Lazarevskoye agricultural holding was shortlisted in the "Person of the Year in AgroTech" nomination for shaping the future of agricultural technologies in Russia and making a significant contribution to the development of the industry.

The winners in all nominations and the full list of participants who were shortlisted can be found at the following link: https://rshbdigital.ru/agrocode-awards

The Lazarevskoye agricultural holding is one of the largest agricultural enterprises in the Tula region, operating since 1981. It specializes in production and processing of agricultural products. The company has a significant impact on the development of the pig industry not only in the Tula region, but also in Russia as a whole, annually supplying more than 10,000 tons of pig meat of the best breeds to the market. The Lazarevskoye agricultural holding has its own plant growing workshop, a feed production workshop, a pig-breeding complex, a meat processing plant and a dairy production workshop. The company's retail network consists of 50 stores. (www.lazarevo.ru)

Lazarevskoye TECH IT startup was launched by Lazarevskoye agricultural holding in 2022. The company is engaged in both adapting existing digital solutions on the market and developing its own, one of which is the project for non-invasive weighing of animals. (https://lazarevo.tech/)