Russia seeks self-sufficiency in food
The report includes various foods. The demand for meat has to be fulfilled for 85 percent by Russian suppliers; milk and cereal for respectively 90 and 95 percent. The only fresh product on the list is potatoes. The goal here is to be independent of import for as much as 95 percent. But Putin went a step further. In his view, Russia must become the largest food exporter in the world.
Mostly grain
Most of the coverage of this plan focuses on grain, dairy products and meat. What the plans are for fresh produce, is unclear. The Russian government doesn’t claim that the country needs to do without the import of fruit and vegetables, as these are not a major products in Russia. A report from the FAO show that in 2009, wheat crop was by far the largest crop with more than twenty percent of the total acreage. Other major crops are pumpkins for animal feed, sunflower, potatoes and various grains (barley, oats and rye).
Russian agriculture has three types of farms: agricultural enterprises, private growers and so-called household farms. This last category is a legacy from the Soviet period, and consists of small pieces of land with houses in the rural areas. The crops are grown mainly for personal consumption. Surpluses are traded in local markets and with neighbours or relatives.
Household farms
The main crops grown in household farms are potatoes and vegetables. In 2010, 84 percent of the potatoes and 71 percent of the vegetables were grown by small growers. In the same year, the household farms accounted for 48 percent of total agricultural production, closely followed by agricultural enterprises with 45 percent, issuing mainly grains, sugar beet and sunflower seeds.
Partly due to the large number of household farms, data for the fruit and vegetable production in Russia are hard to find. The import of fruit and vegetables is easier to trace. Expressed in volumes, 8.4 million tons was imported in 2013, compared to 8 million tons in 2012 and 8.3 million tons in 2011.
The share of EU countries in the Russian import of fruits and vegetables in 2013 stood at 2.1 million tons. Most of the imports was thus from non-EU countries.
Fear of sanctions
The Russian newspaper Pravda writes that there exists a stereotype of Russia being a food importer. The whole situation in Ukraine and the political tension between Russia and the West, the threat of economic sanctions is in the air. Sanctions from the West would have enormous consequences on food, but that image is not correct, says the Russian newspaper. The years in which Russia was completely dependent on food imports was during the 90s. In the new millennium, this has changed.
Since the introduction of the Food Security Doctrine, Russia's dependence on food imports has dropped from 30 percent to 13 percent, or $ 40 billion. A large part of the import, incidentally, is from non-Western countries. 3 billion dollars’ worth of food was imported from the former Soviet republics, another eleven billion was spent on products from developing countries, especially products such as coffee, tea, citrus and bananas. The newspaper estimates that these countries aren’t likely to follow the West in the implementation of sanctions.
Whether the Western countries will introduce sanctions on food remains to be seen, as do the expectations of the Russian newspaper. Russia's ambition to be food independent seems mainly to focus on grains, dairy products and meat. For now, fruits and vegetables appear to be exempt.