POWER SUPPLY OF FARM TRACTOR INDUSTRY IN RUSSIA
Determining the prospects for the development of the tractor fl eet in Russia and its supplying with power units is an important task in establishing a technological foundation to eff ectively tackle the problems of agricultural production. Taking into consideration the indicator of power supply in agriculture in the world’s economically developed countries, the authors consider the domestic needs in agricultural tractors and engines. As a result of the analysis, it is shown that the fl eet of agricultural tractors is at a low level of about 200 thousand units, and it requires further serious development. To ensure eff ective agricultural production, it is necessary to balance the level of farm tractor availability in Russia with that of economically advanced countries. The indicator of 4 kW/ha was taken as a promising level of tractor availability, and the required number of tractors was determined. The analysis was carried out for the cultivation of arable land in Russia with an area of 80 million hectares as of 2020 and amounted to about 2.5 million units for the entire range of agricultural tractors taking into account their traction class. To cultivate all arable areas in Russia, which amounted to about 120 million hectares in 1990, a third more equipment will be required. To maintain the tractor fl eet at this level, it is necessary to ensure an annual supply of at least 250 thousand units of various engines with a total capacity of at least 320 GW. This problem can be solved through increasing the production capacity of existing engine-building plants and designing new diesel engines for tractors of traction classes 0.6…1.4 with a capacity between 20 and 70 kW.