World meat industry news

In the coming years, domestic agriculture, food production and supporting industries should reach outstripping growth rates - above 3% per year. President Vladimir Putin said this at a meeting on agriculture and the food industry. To achieve this goal, it will be necessary to multiply the volume of reclamation, involve new agricultural lands in circulation and increase the intensity of their use through the application of fertilizers, extensive mechanization, and the introduction of modern information technologies, the head of state noted.

According to Putin, it is necessary to increase the production and supply to the domestic market of high-quality, affordable food products, including fish products. “This is a key task for the current year. At the same time, it is strategically important to reduce the dependence of the domestic agro-industrial complex and the fishing industry on import purchases, and along the entire chain, as they say, from the field to the counter, ”the president emphasized (quote from the transcript on the Kremlin website).

Food self-sufficiency is Russia's real competitive advantage, and it should work in the interests of our citizens. “We must protect them from fluctuations in the market, from price fluctuations in the global food market,” Putin said. According to him, the growth in production volumes makes it possible to ensure food prices in Russia are lower than on the world market.

Nevertheless, this year, against the backdrop of a global food shortage, Russia will have to be more prudent in its food supplies abroad, namely, to carefully monitor the parameters of such exports to countries that are clearly hostile towards our country, Putin said. At the end of 2020 and 2021, Russia became a net exporter of agricultural raw materials and food. “20 years ago it seemed absolutely impossible, unbelievable, and today our deliveries cover about 160 countries of the world,” the president added.

This result was achieved, including during the pandemic, when production and logistics ties were disrupted all over the world, Putin recalled. “But our farmers coped with this challenge with dignity and even strengthened their positions,” he added. However, now the key task is to ensure the domestic market, including increasing the output of products, which are partly purchased abroad, the head of state said.