Conference №5 “Russian Agrarian Sector: Development Strategy”

Published: March 30th, 2017

On March 30, within the framework of the Moscow Economic Forum, the conference "Russian Agrarian Sector: Development Strategy" was held, the participants of which discussed the importance of a literate and strategically considered agrarian policy for our country. The moderator of the round table, the scientific director of the All-Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Economics, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ivan Ushachev said that one of the main factors holding back the development of the industry is investment insufficiency.

"Investments in our industry today are lower than in 2007. In 2014-2015, the fall in investment in agribusiness was 16.5%, which is significantly higher than the economy as a whole. Even the surge in investments last year did not compensate for the decline of the previous two years, "Ushachev stressed..

Among other negative factors, the moderator named a large share of imported equipment, deterioration of the state of agricultural lands, stagnation of the social sphere of the village. As main objectives for the long-term perspective, it was suggested, first, to ensure the food independence of the state, second, to overcome the age-old gap between the standard of living of urban and rural population, to ensure a decent and comfortable life in the countryside.

As the primary objectives of the development of the agro-industrial complex, the participants in the discussion proposed: increasing the financing of the system of training and training specialists, maximizing the use of the country's land fund for agricultural production and rural settlement, placing agro-industrial production in zones and regions of countries.

Both the government and the population of the country are on a thawing ice floe, Ivan Starikov, head of the Center for Political Strategies of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is confident. "To date, a showcase of prosperity in our economy, at least that which can be boasted - is agriculture, but it will not stretch the Russian economy," the academician said..

Participants of the conference agreed that it is necessary to change the approach to allocation of state funds for the development of agricultural cooperation, it is necessary to limit the size of land use and take measures to seize unused land.

Valery Yeremeyev, chairman of the Mayak collective farm, described the necessary measures for the development of the agro-industrial complex in the example of the Kaluga region. According to him, the total population of the region is just over a million people. At the same time, the rural population has halved in the past 15-20 years: from 420 to 240 thousand people. Out of 240 thousand people 36 thousand work in agriculture.

"If you look closely, 9.6 thousand people work directly in agricultural production. Over the past three years, given the governor's program to support young professionals, 111 people have come to work in the countryside, which is slightly more than 1% of all workers. Based on these figures, from these concepts, you can answer that one with a bipod, and a thousand with a spoon. Can we all provide products? It is difficult to say, but the village and agricultural production will be reduced, "Yeremeyev concludes..

The first thing that the farmer believes should be done is to stop the development and support of the monopolies, those large agricultural holdings that are financed from the budget. The lion's share (80-85%) of all state support falls into agroholdings. The second necessary step is the decentralization of the management system. Third, it is required to change the taxation system by introducing a single agricultural tax, which should be 3-5% of the volume of sold products.

Participants of the discussion also stressed that measures are needed to support the export of agricultural products. Including support for transportation, export credit, including guarantee insurance of export credits and state guarantees; An increase in the proportion of measures that are unrelated, so that in conditions of market saturation and possible problems with the sale of products, farmers and large producers could independently adapt themselves according to their production structure; Changing the rules for providing support, reducing the administrative resource; Optimization of the ratio of support for large, small and medium businesses.

The conference participants concluded that in the sphere of achieving scientific and technological progress, Russia should not remain a catching-up country. It is necessary to move to the advanced rates of development and development of innovations in the main areas of development of the country's agro-industrial complex. A well-considered agrarian policy will allow us to reach the average annual growth rate of agricultural production by more than 3% per year, which will ensure a faster development than the world.
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