Member of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian-Food Policy and Nature Management Alexander Dvoinykh took part in the work of the International Forum Kazan Digital Week 2022. The senator spoke during the section on the topic "The strategy of the Russian Federation (20-30) for digitalization in agriculture (exchange of experience in the regions)", reports official website of the Federation Council.
Alexander Dvoinykh noted that the agro-industrial complex of Russia is becoming more and more digitalized. “According to the estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, the volume of the Agrotech market in 2020 reached 360 billion rubles, and by 2026 it should grow five times.”
The parliamentarian said that the Federation Council pays great attention to the processes of digitalization of agriculture, a meeting of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the upper house will be devoted to this.
Alexander Dvoinykh informed about key initiatives in the field of digital transformation of agriculture.
According to the senator, it is necessary first of all to ensure the sovereignty of the digital infrastructure of the agro-industrial complex. “After this spring, a number of foreign IT companies stopped working in Russia, it became obvious that the digital transformation of such a strategic industry as agriculture should take place exclusively on domestic software and hardware solutions,” the parliamentarian said.
He noted that Russian farms actively exploited foreign high-tech tractors, combines and other machines necessary for agricultural work at any stage, from sowing to harvesting. “Equipment from Western manufacturers is part of closed ecosystems. This means that it can only be serviced in specialized centers, and we are talking about both replacing spare parts and flashing software. At the same time, it is important to note that foreign companies got access to a wide range of data about our lands.”
“Therefore, we consider it important to ensure import substitution in the agro-industrial complex, including working out additional measures of state support for agricultural producers who are introducing Russian digital technologies,” said Alexander Dvoinykh.
In his opinion, another barrier that hinders the introduction of digital technologies in the agro-industrial complex is the fragmentation of data on agricultural land, whether it is data on the composition of soils or melioration.
Alexander Dvoinykh spoke about the preparation of a number of legislative initiatives that will help increase the amount of data in digital form.
“Another strategic task is to provide rural areas with high-speed communications,” the senator emphasized.