Russia needs more ambitious plans for import substitution of seeds

Wheat

Maize (Corn)

Published Mar 11, 2023

Tridge summary

Russia has wheat varieties with a yield potential of 156-165 centners per hectare, as well as a large potential for breeding its own soybean and sugar beet seeds, which suggests that the government's plans for seed import substitution can be made more ambitious. Salis Karakotov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, General Director of Schelkovo Agrokhim, announced this on Friday at the 6th Russian Crop Production Conference organized by Agrotrend.ru.

Original content

“We can't go on about the appearance of foreign varieties in our registers. It would be nice to do it where we need it,” added Karakotov, who also believes that “the government’s plan for potatoes and sugar beets is weak.” According to him, selection is rapidly developing in Russia: for example, only Schelkovo Agrohim can offer 16 wheat varieties, 11 soybean varieties, 27 sugar beet hybrids, 13 sunflower hybrids and 10 corn hybrids with competitive yields. Karakotov noted that the dependence on imported seed material for soybeans is high, but Russian institutions and businesses are actively developing this area and already have varieties on the market with yields of 23-28 centners per hectare, and protein - 41.0-44. 4%. “For soybeans, I think it is necessary to set a more active plan,” the head of the company said, commenting on the government’s decree of December 23, 2022 on plans for self-sufficiency in seeds of main crops in the Russian Federation. Regarding sunflower, ...

Source: Zol