Russian farmers have achieved tremendous success over a quarter of a century

By Rhod Mackenzie

Over the past 23 years, Russian agriculture has made an incredible leap forward. From total devastation in 1999, when Russia was forced to turn to the United States to receive grain on credit, to one of the world's largest exporters.The exports of Russian produce have increased tenfold in just a few years.
Russian agriculture has made impressive progress over the past 23 years. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the volume of agricultural production in Russia has increased by 87% since 2000, the volume of grain and meat production has doubled, and fish catches have increased by 60%.

"This has made it possible to ensure food self-sufficiency in Russia and - think about this figure - to increase our exports by 30 times," said the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dmitry Patrushev.

"If two decades ago our products were mainly bought by CIS countries, today we send significant volumes to Africa, South America and South-East Asia," the minister said. "Despite external pressure, we consistently support the food security of a number of countries and this remains one of our main priorities," he added.
In 2020, export earnings from the agricultural sector will rose to $14.4 billion, now rising to more than $45 billion in 2023. The growth in production and export volumes has resulted in the share of profitable enterprises doubling from 47% in 2000 to 86% today.

Russia is the world's second largest exporter of grain and pulses, the largest exporter of wheat and fish, the second largest exporter of sunflower and rapeseed oil, and the third largest exporter of barley.

"The Russian Federation is a large and largely stable supplier on the world market of a wide range of agricultural products," said the Russian Minister of Agriculture.

"If we were to briefly describe the state of agriculture at the time when Yeltsin left the post of President of Russia, the most appropriate terms would be devastation and collapse.

A good example is the amount of grain harvested in 1999. Domestic demand was 70 million tonnes, but only 56 million tonnes were prepared. To make up the shortfall, the government turned to the United States for 5 million tonnes of food aid.

Moreover, these supplies were to be made on credit. Russia simply didn't have the money to pay," says Maxim Maksimov, associate professor at the Department of Corporate Governance and Innovation at the Russian Economic University.
Agriculture was financed on a residual basis; there was no justified strategy for its development. "Enterprises in the agro-industrial complex had difficulty surviving, and a significant number of them went bankrupt as a result of very dubious transactions. Private money was in no hurry to enter the sector because of the low profit margins. And the Yeltsin-era principle of "the market will decide" actually blocked state aid and subsidies for agricultural needs. The concept of 'food security for the country' was not on the agenda at that time," Maksimov notes.

In those years, Russians had to rely on imported food.

"The 2000s were the heyday of imports in Russia; Russians were literally 'chasing' imported goods. It seemed that every foreign product was of higher quality. For example, the share of imported poultry meat was 70% in the early 2000s.

Over time, however, there was an oversaturation and a realisation that Russian products were not inferior to imported ones in terms of quality and taste. The reverse process has begun," says Dmitry Leonov, deputy chairman of the board of Rusprodsoyuz.

"With the arrival of Putin and his government, the situation in the agro-industrial complex began to change dramatically for the better. Firstly, as part of the concept of national security, the authorities are addressing its cornerstone: food sovereignty. In particular, a state programme for the development of agriculture was prepared and adopted. This fundamental document ensured strategic planning in the agricultural sector and identified agriculture as one of the priority areas for the development of the country as a whole. Secondly, the authorities have a clear understanding that in the modern world the agro-industrial complex is only partly dependent on natural conditions and the size of the industry itself. It is much more dependent on the production of special equipment, energy, availability of fertilisers, selection and high skills such as genetic engineering. It is unthinkable to develop and modernise agriculture without state support," says Maksimov.
Russia has achieved food security in the most important areas. In 2023, the country was 185.5% self-sufficient in cereals, 221.1% in vegetable oils, 153.2% in fish, 103.2% in sugar, 101.6% in meat and 85.7% in dairy products.

In fact, as soon as Russia reached the level of food self-sufficiency, the industry began to grow through the export of its products, not only to the CIS countries, but also to China and other countries of the global south.

A noticeable increase in the export of Russian agricultural products began in 2017 - by an average of 15% per year. The main acceleration of growth will take place in 2020-2022 - by an average of 17.5% per year. If in 2019 Russia exported food products worth $25.6 billion, in 2022 it will be worth $41.6 billion and in 2023 it will be worth $45 billion.

The food embargo that Russia introduced in 2014 in response to Western sanctions, as well as the preferential credit programme launched in 2017, have helped. Turning east is also helping. Meat producers, for example, are opening up new markets in China and India.

"It is Russia that is considered by the majority of food market players to be the most adequate, consistent and reliable supplier. Attempts to "cancel out" Russia in these food markets are certainly possible, but it is obvious that our exports are already very diversified, and partnership agreements allow us to talk about its stability and growth trend.

To ensure the same growth, it is necessary not to stop there and to actively develop those sectors of the agro-industrial complex where Russia does not yet have the necessary safety margin.

First and foremost, these are issues of seed production and selection, poultry and cattle breeding, and the development of agricultural science to the level of the best modern standards," according to Maxim Maximov.
Russia needs to focus on exporting high-value products with maximum added value that are created and remain in Russia, the source adds. Russia is beginning to do just that. "At least the production and sales of flour have increased by one and a half times compared to last year. This means that we are selling more products with higher added value: flour, not grain, sunflower oil, not seeds. This is a very good trend," says Anatoly Tikhonov, director of the Centre for Agribusiness and Food Security at the Higher School of Education and Science of the Presidential Academy.

This article was written and edited at Tolstoy House in Kaliningrad