The main problems of agriculture in Russia

Agriculture in Russia is one of the most important sectors of the Russian economy, providing the need for food and raw materials for footwear, textile, perfumery and other industries.

Russian agriculture is one of the largest in the world. This branch of the Russian agro-industrial complex takes the first place among countries in the production of sunflower and sugar beets, the fourth in grain, the fifth in meat, the sixth in milk, and the seventh in growing vegetables. In 2013, production in Russian agriculture was $ 120 billion. The main regions, which account for 60% of all-Russian production, are the Volga, Central and Southern Federal Districts.

But, even taking places in the top ten world agricultural producers, Russia, according to experts, lags behind advanced countries by at least 40 years. Due to backwardness, crop losses reach 30%, only 2% of all farmland is processed using land saving technologies, the specific energy consumption is several times higher than in Europe and the USA.

According to all the same leading world experts, there are a number of problems in Russian agriculture that must be addressed to overcome backwardness.

Economic problems

Financing and high interest rates on loans. The level of state financing of the Russian agricultural sector is several times lower than the average European indicators. But even those funds that are set by limits according to WTO rules do not reach conscientious Russian farmers and are used inefficiently. Banks, in turn, are not ready to reduce interest on loans, as they are not sure of their repayment, since in the field of agriculture the redistribution of property has not yet ended, direct seizures, takeovers and intentional bankruptcies are flourishing.

High fuel prices, a high degree of deterioration and a shortage of agricultural machinery. Excessively high prices for fuels and lubricants make it impossible to organize highly profitable agricultural production. The transfer of equipment, for example to gas, also requires significant costs and does not make sense due to the fact that the fleet of agricultural machinery itself for the most part has exhausted its resource. The high degree of deterioration of agricultural machinery has led to its shortage. The low productivity of still working machines does not allow Russian farmers to fully compete with Western farmers. This problem can be solved only after solving issues related to financing, but then the problem of high customs duties on the import of agricultural machinery becomes acute.