In the chamber of Commerce of the Russian Federation discussed the possibility of increasing the competitiveness of agro-industrial complex of the country. In addition to members of the chamber of Commerce, in conversation was attended by representatives of Federal and regional authorities, agricultural science, enterprises and industry associations, farmers. The issue was discussed deeply and comprehensively. The main conclusion: Russia has all the objective prerequisites for rapid development in this field. There is even the desire of the heads of ministries and departments in the regions and in Moscow – to contribute. Only the financial-economic bloc of the government, coupled with the leadership of the Central Bank show a strong desire in whatever was to strangle the economy of the village and related industries.
Sprouts of hope
As mentioned by almost all speakers, retaliatory sanctions imposed by Russian leadership against several countries, forced him to pay attention to the food security of the country, to implement a number of measures in the field of import substitution. However, turning this began even before the imposition of sanctions.
If in 2006-2011, food imports grew annually by an average of 14%, while in 2012 it decreased by 4.3%. In 2013-2015 supply of imported fruits decreased by 10%, dairy products — by 2.8%, other animal products – on 7%. Now in Russia with the General downturn in the economy, there is growth in agricultural production. And this fact allows us to talk not just about saving the village, but also about its development, which is impossible without competitiveness.
However, with a slight growth in performance in the last three years after a sharp dip in the economy in the 1990s cannot resolve systemic issues in the development of agriculture, to achieve food independence. The share of food imports still accounted for 34% of the total amount of their consumption. And the basis of our exports is not the finished products, and raw materials: wheat, fish and seafood (90% export).
In addition, the country has destroyed the production of many types of products used by the farmers: of the means of chemical plant protection products, feed additives, veterinary drugs and vaccines, seed and genetic material, technological components and additives for the food processing industry. The share of import of incubator eggs is 100%, veterinary drugs – 65%, feed additives 50%.
In Russia continues to decrease the security of households appliances. Only the years 2000-2014, the number of tractors per 1000 hectares of arable land has decreased from 7 to 3, combine harvesters – from 5 to 2 per 1000 hectares of sugar beet sugar beet the number of cars fell from 16 to 3. With the Soviet period was even afraid to compare.
To thrive, you need to reverse these trends.
Potential
All speakers noted that the country remains a huge unrealized potential in all the key factors of ensuring competitiveness of agrarian sector: land resources, technology, markets, human capital.
Russia has 132 million hectares of agricultural land. This is 10% of the global arable land. But 41 million hectares of land abandoned. This is twice the arable land of France. This is the potential of extensive growth.
More opportunities gives you the potential intensive development. According to data for 2013, the yield of grain and leguminous crops in the US and in France more than three times higher than in Russia, according to the milk yield per cow respectively 2.5 and 1.6 times. The introduction of modern technologies can raise agricultural production significantly. And today we have less than half of the households make fertilizer.
A fundamental factor for the development of agriculture is the availability of markets. And here Russia has an enormous potential in both domestic and foreign markets.
The growth potential of domestic demand due to the necessity of increasing the degree of self-sufficiency in agricultural products (import substitution), as well as the possibility of increasing the share of domestic agricultural raw materials in the final product (e.g. meat sausage) and an increase in demand for feed in the growth of production performance in livestock.
The potential increase in demand for Russian products in foreign markets includes not only the growing shortage of food in some regions of the world, but also the opportunity to offer customers environmentally friendly products. The demand for it in recent years has been steadily increasing both in Russia and abroad. A huge amount of land, with the 90-ies of the last century rested from chemicals and fertilisers, creates such opportunities.
Besides, the Russian legislation does not allow the use of genetically modified organisms in the country (only possible to import the finished product with a small amount GMOs). In combination with a very low level of fertilizer use (because of economic saddlenose farmers) now Russian food products can be considered as healthy.
Finally, in rural areas there is still considerable human potential, although it is treated extremely wasteful. The level of unemployment in rural areas is twice higher than the average for the Russian economy, and wages are almost twice lower. And this despite the growing value added per employee. The number of rural residents continues to decline steadily. In 2000-2014, the rural population decreased by 1.2 million. And since 1989, we have from the face of the earth disappeared 25 thousand villages.
Unhealthy competition
It is obvious that the systemic problems of agriculture are inextricably linked with each other. So improvement is possible only if a comprehensive approach to their solution. First of all, it refers to the need for change in the government.
Some of the speakers noted that in the Doctrine of food security of Russia should increase the target level of sufficiency state of food that the country retains independence from food imports, even in the event of crop failure. The current plan of progress it is necessary to replace programs based on the assessment of production capacity of the domestic agricultural sector and the capacity of the food markets.
The dominance of imported products on the Russian market is mainly determined by unequal conditions of competition between Russian and foreign producers, noted many speakers. Today, the volume of funds allocated for the development of agriculture in Russia is incomparable with the support received of its main competitors.
In the EU, for example, 40% of the income of farmers is government support. In addition, the German farmer give credit for 1.5%, our under 23%, leasing of machinery in Germany farmers do for free. Even electricity to the village we have released 2.5–3 times more expensive than industry.
To equalize these conditions, it is necessary to act at once in several directions. First of all, to ensure the competitiveness of domestic food is necessary to protect the domestic market from highly subsidized imports. As shown by the retaliatory sanctions against a number of countries, WTO membership is not a barrier to such a policy. Such actions fit into the application of anti-dumping measures, which the WTO allowed. With their help, for example, the EU from our vegetables protected by a 300 percent import tariff.
Next, you need to increase the size of state support for Russian agriculture, despite the opposition of the Finance Ministry, which does not fulfil even the current commitment to state subsidies, at least to the level accepted when joining the WTO. Also need a more transparent allocation of subsidies and expanding access to them. Today, access to government support has a very small circle of the largest farms.
More actively use the experience of other States, effectively helps its farmers. In particular – the experiences of India and Turkey, where the government buys from farmers at guaranteed food procurement prices, and then from the resulting inventory sends it to the domestic market or at low prices to poor people, or donated as food aid in case of crop failures, natural disasters, etc. If there is excess food stocks, the government itself implements its foreign markets.
Even in the United States used subsidies to low-income citizens on food (ration cards), which is a measure of the demand for them. At the same time, speakers noted, in any case, it is necessary to maintain the effective demand of the population, and not to Rob him, as does the leadership of the Central Bank, through the collapse of the ruble.
Many speakers stressed the fact that development of agriculture is impossible without available investment. The current management policy of the Central Bank supporting lending rates at the level of 15-20% per annum, almost completely eliminates the possibility of development of not only agriculture, but also the entire production in Russia. The solution of the issue in getting rid of these saboteurs.
To remove obstacles to
Another important issue to be addressed is the low profitability of agricultural production. The key to it in price controls throughout the production chain from field to fork. Because of his lack of profit from various intermediaries and farmers can’t make ends meet. In the Omsk region, for example, dealers, buying milk for a few cents per liter, ruining his production. Farmers get 10 to 25% of the price at which their products are sold in the store. In other words, if you raise purchasing prices by 10%, the cost will rise only 1-2. 5%.
And at these low prices the farmers cannot sell their products. In the country fall the volume of its processing. Processing enterprises in the majority today are owned by foreign corporations, and trading network. They work not in the interests of Russia, development of domestic agriculture and the interests of other countries seeking to sell their finished products. In particular, our farms can’t sell the milk and are forced to slaughter livestock. At the same time, the country imported 10 million tonnes (in terms of milk) of dairy products in procurement from domestic manufacturers to 20 million tons.
Particularly, many speakers noted, to ensure the competitiveness, it is necessary to strictly control the quality of products. Today on the shelves of hard to find sausage with a high content of meat or milk. You want to radically increase the efficiency of quality control of products. We have it all wrong.
For example, in Soviet time it was used GOST, which of meat and meat products in the sausage must be at least 95%. In 2003 to legitimize and promote the tampering of products, widely used, have been allowed to produce sausages with meat content and meat products at 60%. And in 2013 the government introduced the technical regulations that makes a sausage product in which the meat content and masoprocol is only 40%! That shit filled up all the shelves, and conscientious producers just squeezed out of the Russian market.
It is particularly important to separate and strictly control the production and sale of organic agricultural products from that produced by the so-called industrial technology. Industrial technology based on the use of genetically modified organisms with the use of huge quantities of fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics and other dangerous for the health of the people of the poison that gets into their body through food.
Unfortunately, the country is the widespread introduction of industrial technologies, especially in poultry and pig breeding. But the abundance of products when this is achieved at the expense of the health of the population and widespread disease of cattle and people that we barely knew.
As the speakers noted, the government should help the farmers during the lean season and natural disasters. An effective system of insurance against crop failure, not the current one that pursues only the interests of financial institutions, leaving nothing affected agricultural enterprises. In addition, today’s commodity interventions, smoothing seasonal price fluctuations, supports producers, and traders. Marketing of agricultural products should be not a problem of agricultural enterprises, and the care of the state and guaranteed to them.
You must also deal with the regulation of land use. Officials do not want to conduct cadastral valuation of land. And where it is carried out at the expense of citizens, the speculator sits on the ground and waiting for when I can sell more. Today it is one of the main obstacles to the development of brownfield land. But on the other hand, in the fertile lands of the South of Russia goes on the offensive landowners, who with the help of officials rounded up peasants from the land.
The state, speakers noted, should not save on rural infrastructure, as it does today. We must not close, but rather to equip the new schools, hospitals, feldsher-midwife stations, repairing roads, carry out land reclamation. Required investment in agricultural science, which gets old because there is no set of graduate students. In serious need of change and professional education. Today the schools produce “experts” who do not know how and can’t pain said production workers.
In General, work – no end. And there is someone dealing with it. The main thing – not to disturb them.
