According to the results of the year, the export of agricultural products and provisions could reach $ 20 billion against $ 17 billion in 2016, to date, shipments abroad rose by 20% to $ 11.5 billion, Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said during the Agribusiness Forum «Leadership of the Russian Agroindustrial Complex: how to ensure quality growth «, which was held within the framework of the exhibition» Golden Autumn «.
The implementation of the priority project for the development of agro-export will significantly increase the supply of domestic products to foreign markets, at the same time it is necessary to stake not only on raw materials but also processed products. Despite the fact that due to the record indicators on the harvest, the export potential of the agricultural sector has increased, domestic points of growth continue to dominate in domestic agriculture.
Among the tasks for the near future, the Minister noted an increase in the yield capacity and productivity of livestock and poultry, the introduction of new technologies, the modernization of the agro-industrial complex, and the increase in labor productivity. He also drew attention to the need to reduce dependence on foreign means of production, in particular, seeds and genetic material. «We are 50% dependent on import seeds, if from abroad, for some reason, we do not supply a broiler hatching egg — we will lose the industry,» Tkachev stressed. — We do not have enough seeds of vegetables, potatoes, sugar beets; our dependence on foreign seeds reaches 90%. We have to make a breakthrough in this direction; this is a niche in which you can earn. »
If the supply of the market at the expense of domestic production has already reached the required threshold of the Food Security Doctrine or is close to it, for a number of food products, in the segments like milk, vegetables and fruits, another five to seven years of work are needed, the head of the agrarian department estimated. And in order to successfully pass this path, it is necessary to maintain state support. «Without state support, projects in dairy farming pay for 15 years, and almost all this time they are unprofitable or work at zero, and with subsidies they pay off in seven to eight years, which receive a profitability of 10%,» said Tkachev.
Source: Agroinvestor
9.10.2017