IMPORT SUBSTITUTION IN SEED PRODUCTION -A NEW LEVEL OF FOOD SECURITY IN RUSSIA


Nekrasov R.V.

The agricultural sector of the Russian Federation has achieved significant progress in implementing the national import substitution program. Nowadays, the threshold for food security has been reached for all major commodity groups, with the exception of milk and dairy products. At the same time, the overall stability of the Russian agro-industrial complex to external influences remains insufficient, primarily due to the high level of dependence on imported supplies of material and technical resources, including seed material. Ensuring the stable development of crop production in Russia is impossible without solving the problem of reducing dependence on imported seed material. The study presents a dynamic and structural analysis of the dependence of the Russian agro-industrial complex on the supply of foreign varieties and hybrids of agricultural plants. A critical assessment of existing state support measures aimed at the development of domestic breeding is given. Special attention is paid to the need of ensuring coordination of actions and multiplication of efforts of all participants in the selection and seed-growing process. The implementation of the recommendations suggested in the article will allow for the accelerated replacement of foreign seed material in production crops with domestic selection achievements without reducing the volume of crop production. Keywords: selection, seed production, import substitution, agro-industrial complex, innovation activity, federal scientific and technical program, state support, public-private partnership. Highlights: ♦ the Russian seed market is largely dependent on imported supplies, for some crops (sugar beet, sunflower, corn, potatoes, rape), this dependence is now critical, which directly affects the country’s sustainable food security in the long term; ♦ the Federal scientific and technical program is aimed at creating new competitive domestic varieties and hybrids, but its implementation is currently fraught with significant difficulties, which increases the risks of not achieving the targets set in it; ♦ the priority direction for the development of high-quality seed material in our country is the use of cluster approach tools, the main of which are the development and implementation of public-private partnership projects based on existing scientific institutions, as well as more active involvement of leading foreign companies to work in the Russian Federation.

Roman V. Nekrasov, Candidate of Economics, Associate Professor of the Economics and Organization of Agro-industrial Production Department of the Samara State University of Economics.


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