New tools to support agriculture to be introduced in Russia

According to the results of this year, Russian agriculture will increase production by 2%, said Elena Fastova, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia, during the conference Agricultural Holdings of Russia 2019 hosted by the Agroinvestor magazine.

According to the Deputy Minister, in 2019, the grain yield will grow by 3.9% to 120 million tons, including corn, by 21% to 13.8 million tons, rice, by 20% to 12.2 million tons. The soybean yield will grow by 10% to 4.4 million tons, vegetables, by 21% to 1.15 million tons.

As Elena Fastova noted, several new tools are to be introduced to support the development of agriculture in Russia next year. Firstly, farmers will be given subsidies for liming acidic soils – 1 billion rubles (approximately $ 14.2 million) will be allocated for this purpose in the state budget. This will make it possible to reimburse up to 90% of the costs for the purchase, transportation, and application of ameliorants to the soil to agricultural organizations and farmers.

Secondly, subsidies of around 4.2 billion rubles (up to $ 60 million) will be allocated for the cultivation of soy and rapeseed in order to increase their yields in the country.

And thirdly, it is planned to provide preferential investment loans for a period of 2 to 12 years for the construction of greenhouse complexes. These can be used by farmers to purchase special machinery and equipment, automation facilities.