Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev reported at the Council of Legislators on measures to support the agro-industrial complex, taken by the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture in the face of external pressure.
According to the head of the department, a constructive and continuous dialogue between the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, the Federation Council and the State Duma contributes to the systematic development of the domestic agro-industrial complex. Active joint work is being carried out in the field of lawmaking, which allows improving the regulation of the industry. In particular, more than 30 laws have been adopted over the past 2 years.
Now the spring field work, which began in 53 subjects, is now in its active phase, 4.7 million hectares have already been sown. As Dmitry Patrushev emphasized, preparations for this important stage were carried out in advance, which made it possible to enter spring field work on a regular basis. By the start of the sowing campaign, each region ensures the full readiness of all necessary resources, including seeds, machinery, fuel, plant protection products, and mineral fertilizers.
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture noted that during this period, the costs of agricultural producers are increasing, and especially in the face of external pressure. Therefore, the President and the Government made decisions on additional support measures. For the prompt distribution of funds, it is recommended that the subjects provide for the possibility of advancing the costs of farmers. The direction of concessional lending has been significantly strengthened. Additional support in this part was also provided to the backbone organizations of the agro-industrial complex. On behalf of the President, an additional allocation of more than 150 billion rubles for concessional lending is being worked out.
In addition to the direct provision of sowing, other measures have been taken to provide additional support to crop growers. In particular, funds were allocated to subsidize the transportation of mineral fertilizers and agricultural products, including grain. In addition, in order to simplify access to Russia for plant protection products, the President signed a decree, according to which, until July 1 of this year, the import of pesticides and agrochemicals through any checkpoints is allowed.
Also, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Agriculture, an additional 12 billion rubles were allocated to Rosagroleasing to help farmers upgrade their fleet of agricultural machinery and equipment through a preferential leasing program.
Speaking about livestock support, the Minister noted that in the current situation it is necessary to strengthen work on import substitution in poultry farming. In this regard, the President and the Government supported the allocation of 5 billion rubles for the construction of an enterprise for scaling up the domestic cross-country meat chickens “Smena-9”. The Ministry of Agriculture also treats issues of epizootic well-being with high attention. About 800 million rubles were additionally allocated for the purchase of vaccines for diagnostic tools.
