More than 3 billion rubles will be allocated for the creation of domestic varieties and hybrids of vegetable crops.
The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, together with the Ministry of Education and Science and the Russian Academy of Sciences, has developed a subprogram for the creation of domestic varieties and hybrids of vegetable crops. Over six years, it is planned to allocate more than 3 billion rubles from the federal budget for its implementation.
According to the document, from 2024 to 2030, the volume of sown seeds will increase by 15-50%, depending on the crop. This will solve the problem with the slow development of breeding and dependence on imports.
The authors of the document calculated that the annual need of the Russian population for fresh vegetables is 18.3 million tons. At the same time, the shortage of domestic products is 19.8% and is compensated by imports.
Tomatoes (16%), cabbage (15%), onions (11.9%), carrots (9%) and cucumbers (7.8%) occupy the largest share in vegetable crops. At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture notes an increase in the yield of vegetables of the “borscht” set. Thus, over the past 10 years, the average yield of cabbage has increased from 230 c/ha to 344 c/ha, beets – from 180 c/ha to 243 c/ha, carrots – from 186 c/ha to 298 c/ha, onions – from 174 c/ha to 285 c/ha.
At the same time, the authors of the program note that the increase is due to the use of high-yielding varieties and hybrids, intensive production technologies both in open and protected ground. However, crop yields in Russia are still lower than in the developed world, the document notes.
The proposed program will be aimed at creating and introducing competitive domestic varieties and hybrids of vegetable crops, as well as technologies based on the latest scientific achievements, Agroinvestor reports. It is planned to implement it with the help of complex scientific and technical projects.