{"id":324,"date":"2015-02-15T17:10:57","date_gmt":"2015-02-15T14:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/?p=324"},"modified":"2015-04-11T14:01:51","modified_gmt":"2015-04-11T11:01:51","slug":"russian-agriculture-struggles-meet-self-sufficiency-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/?p=324","title":{"rendered":"Russian agriculture struggles to meet self-sufficiency challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><center><br \/>\n<script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><!-- wikienglish-336x280 --> <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 336px; height: 280px;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8601407773370768\" data-ad-slot=\"2337960491\"><\/ins><script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><br \/>\n<\/center><\/p>\n<h3>Vocabulary<\/h3>\n<p><strong>balmy<\/strong> [&#8216;b??m?]1) \u0430\u0440\u043e\u043c\u0430\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 2) \u043d\u0435\u0436\u043d\u044b\u0439, \u0442\u0451\u043f\u043b\u044b\u0439, \u043f\u0440\u0438\u044f\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 (\u043e \u0432\u0435\u0442\u0440\u0435, \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0443\u0445\u0435, \u043f\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0434\u0435)<\/p>\n<p><strong>retaliation<\/strong> [r??t?l?&#8217;e???n] \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0430\u044f\u043d\u0438\u0435, \u0432\u043e\u0437\u043c\u0435\u0437\u0434\u0438\u0435, \u043a\u0430\u0440\u0430; \u043e\u0442\u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0430, \u0440\u0430\u0441\u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0430<\/p>\n<p><strong>wary<\/strong> [&#8216;we?r?] \u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0436\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/p>\n<p><strong>logistics<\/strong> [l?&#8217;??st?ks] \u043c\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0438\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e-\u0442\u0435\u0445\u043d\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0435 \u043e\u0431\u0435\u0441\u043f\u0435\u0447\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>By Kathrin Hille<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The harvest workers at Sovkhoz Lenina carry the apples to the trailer one bucket at a time. Soon the ripe load piles up under the <strong>balmy<\/strong> sun, ready for customers in nearby Moscow, who are hungry for fresh, healthy, homegrown produce.<\/p>\n<p>Since the Russian government banned food imports from western countries earlier this month in <strong>retaliation<\/strong> for sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, Moscow has been trying to persuade consumers that domestic produce is better and telling farmers that Russian agriculture\u2019s time has come.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are a country that can and must feed itself \u2013 and not only feed itself but supply other countries,\u201d said Dmitry Medvedev, prime minister, last week.<\/p>\n<p>But this goal appears elusive. Although the Russian Federation has one of the largest areas of arable land per capita in the world, the country relies on imports for up to 40 per cent of its food supplies. Farmers say it would take years of hard work and huge, wide-ranging investments to change that \u2013 a feat few believe will be achieved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday in Russia we have the unique situation that good, ecologically-grown apples can\u2019t fetch nearly the same price as imported ones,\u201d says Dmitry Yuriev, deputy minister of agriculture. \u201cUp to half of the fruit production from small farms and 20 per cent of industrial vegetable production just rots away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The root of the problem lies in the country\u2019s long, tortuous transformation from its communist past. While the Soviet Union prided itself in self-sufficiency, it was achieved with low yields and little choice for consumers. Since the USSR\u2019s collapse in 1991, the total area under cultivation in the country has dropped from over 90m hectares to just 73m ha.<\/p>\n<p>When Russia discovered capitalism in the 1990s, its new entrepreneurs focused on quick profits in trade, mining and financial services. State farms were broken up, but few could raise the money needed to modernise their production methods and systems bringing goods to market. Many peasants left their land to find work in booming Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>The government has had some success in addressing these problems. With subsidised financing through state banks and leasing companies, it has helped rebuild some of the pork and poultry production capacity lost since the fall of communism. Between 2008 and 2012, poultry production grew 60 per cent and pork production 36 per cent.<\/p>\n<p>But Moscow is <strong>wary<\/strong> of moving too fast. Mr Yuriev says boosting grain or pork production too quickly might trigger price drops, creating financial difficulties for the investors the government is trying to encourage.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the government now wants to modernise the fruit, vegetable and milk sector. The main reason for the big losses and low yields in fruit and vegetable production is the absence of a nationwide modern <strong>logistics<\/strong> and storage infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Yuriev says the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan could supply a wide range of high-quality fruit and vegetables that are now imported. But much of Dagestan\u2019s produce is processed instead \u2013 into juice concentrates, for example \u2013 because there is no infrastructure for storing and transporting fresh products.<\/p>\n<p>The agriculture ministry is developing plans for a nationwide wholesale logistics system, which could consist of about 15 hubs and be operated with state participation. But this is unlikely to be in place quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Another new programme will focus on organising milk farms into co-operatives that can help with quality control, logistics and marketing. It will not be a quick fix either \u2013 Mr Yuriev says transforming the sector will take up to eight years.<\/p>\n<p>The industry body complains that Russia\u2019s agricultural subsidies per hectare are a fraction of those in the EU and demands that Moscow double its subsidies.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u0418\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0447\u043d\u0438\u043a: http:\/\/www.ft.com\/cms\/s\/0\/776c7c6a-2782-11e4-ae44-00144feabdc0.html<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vocabulary balmy [&#8216;b??m?]1) \u0430\u0440\u043e\u043c\u0430\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 2) \u043d\u0435\u0436\u043d\u044b\u0439, \u0442\u0451\u043f\u043b\u044b\u0439, \u043f\u0440\u0438\u044f\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 (\u043e \u0432\u0435\u0442\u0440\u0435, \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0443\u0445\u0435, \u043f\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0434\u0435) retaliation [r??t?l?&#8217;e???n] \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0430\u044f\u043d\u0438\u0435, \u0432\u043e\u0437\u043c\u0435\u0437\u0434\u0438\u0435, \u043a\u0430\u0440\u0430; \u043e\u0442\u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0430, \u0440\u0430\u0441\u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0430 wary [&#8216;we?r?] \u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0436\u043d\u044b\u0439 logistics [l?&#8217;??st?ks] \u043c\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0438\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e-\u0442\u0435\u0445\u043d\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0435 \u043e\u0431\u0435\u0441\u043f\u0435\u0447\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 &nbsp; By Kathrin Hille The harvest workers at Sovkhoz Lenina carry the apples to&#8230;<br \/><a class=\"read-more-button\" href=\"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/?p=324\">\u0414\u0410\u041b\u0415\u0415<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=324"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":532,"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions\/532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikienglish.ru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}