Seeds “Unfriendly” from some nurseries will not get to Russia
Rosselkhoznadzor from August 15 introduces a ban on seeds from among foreign nurseries. It has to do with security guards. And earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture experimented with quotas for the import of seed material. What do farmers think about it?
The message of the Rosselkhoznadzor is replete with terms. Office since the autumn of August forbids seed supplies from Germany, France, the Netherlands and Canada. It is alleged that creeping mustard was found in the seeds – this is a weed, which, due to its similarity, is also called cornflower, it makes it unsuitable for agricultural use. Potato spindle tuber virus has also been detected, it can detect a 75% yield loss in nightshades. In addition, pepino mosaic viruses have been found to infect tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Other diseases have also been identified.
Business FM interviewed several farmers about whether all this could affect the harvest. One of them, head of the Pskov peasant farm “Prometheus” Alexander Konashenkov, says that he has already purchased the necessary imported seeds. And I noticed that now they come not only from Europe, but also from Asia.
– The import of seeds was captured on almost all of the many deliveries – how many were brought in before the events.
– What are you planting?
– Carrots, beets, cabbage, potatoes, onions, turnips, radishes, tomatoes, peppers. The ban did not apply for imports from all countries. We still use Japanese, Chinese seeds. Already slowly they come to our market.
Has the price of seeds gone up a lot this year?
– Seeds at first rose in price by about 50%, even more. Then the price dropped.
Perhaps the latter should not have been paid attention to reports of special attention, if earlier the Ministry of Agriculture did not offer to quote the purchase of foreign seeds. They noted in passing that 90% come to Russia from nurseries of “unfriendly” countries. But at the same time, the Russian Federation is also very dependent on foreign material. There are no problems with wheat, but for sugar beet the dependence is 97%, for sunflower – 77%, for potatoes – up to 30%.
Limiting the number of incentives should be associated with high selection, but, as Vladimir Akatiev, chairman of the Elite Potato Agrofirm near Moscow, notes, the country has been saying for years that it is necessary to create special potato seed plots, such as in Europe. Approximately for this, according to the agrarian principle, about a year or two. But in fact, there are only two such zones in Russia so far, says Vladimir Akatiev:
Vladimir Akatiev Chairman of the agricultural production cooperative “Agrofirm “Elite Potato”
Rosselkhoznadzor has repeatedly banned the sale of rare seeds. At the beginning of July was limited import of products of two French companies. But, as farmers say, it is difficult to achieve success with bans. And if we reduce imports, then do it gradually. And in parallel, they give out subsidies for the purchase of domestic seeds. And, of course, I recall the experience of 2014, when Russia banned, among other things, vegetables and fruits from Western countries, but made exceptions for seeds. After all, it is about food security. There is no need for this question.