Great risks for the harvest: Russia’s dependence on imported seeds has reached 90%

Russia

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 29, 2024

Tridge summary

Arkady Zlochevsky, the leader of the Russian Grain Union, has pointed out Russia's heavy reliance on imported seeds for key crops like corn, sunflower, and sugar beets, with some dependencies as high as 90%. He emphasized that domestic seeds lag in effectiveness compared to their imported counterparts, which, despite being costlier, yield better results. This situation stems from historical neglect towards developing hybrid seed technologies, resulting in subpar domestic seeds. Recent regulatory changes have made seed importation more difficult through quotas and a push for domestic seed usage, raising concerns about potential declines in agricultural productivity and yield. Zlochevsky advocates for investments in superior genetics to sustain agricultural outputs.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Arkady Zlochevsky said on NSN that most of all Russia depends on imported seeds of corn, sunflower and sugar beets. Russia’s dependence on imported seeds has reached 90% for some crops, the head of the Russian Grain Union, Arkady Zlochevsky, said in an interview with NSN. He explained that domestic seeds work worse, although they are cheaper. Rosselkhoznadzor in 2023 identified 2,266 non-existent production enterprises and trade organizations - phantoms. This was reported in the department’s presentation at the annual board meeting. In addition, in 2023, Rosselkhoznadzor inspected 11.1 million tons, including 2.5 billion pieces of planting material and fresh cut flowers, as part of control over the import of plant products. 17.1 thousand tons are not allowed for import. “We are not dependent on imports for grains; our main crop is wheat, with which we are almost completely self-sufficient. As for corn, we are 50% dependent on imports, for sunflower – 70%, for sugar beets – 90% ...

Source: Oilworld