From October 9 to October 12, 2019, in Moscow, on the territory of VDNH, the 21st Russian Agricultural Exhibition Golden Autumn was held, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.
KEY FIGURES
The total area of the exhibition "Golden Autumn-2019" amounted to about 30 thousand square meters. meters and covered all areas of agriculture. In total, 50 regions of Russia and representatives of 17 foreign countries took part in the exhibition. In total, more than 1500 exhibitors demonstrated their successes at Golden Autumn. Over the four days the exhibition was visited by more than 140 thousand people.
The opening ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Gordeev, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Qu Dunyuy and Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev.
By tradition, Dmitry Medvedev presented state awards and awarded honorary titles to the best workers in the industry, opening the exhibition on the eve of the Worker's Day of the agricultural and processing industry.
After the official opening ceremony of the “Golden Autumn-2019”, the delegation participants familiarized themselves with the exposition of the exhibition, the emphasis of which was placed on the best regional brands made from their own environmentally friendly raw materials. Representatives of the regions also told the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation about the most successful ongoing projects in the agricultural sector.
MAIN SECTIONS OF THE EXPOSITION REGIONS OF RUSSIA. FOREIGN COUNTRIES
This is one of the main sections of the exhibition, in which 48 subjects of the Russian Federation on a total area of more than 5 thousand square meters. meters presented large-scale investment projects being implemented in the regions, and also demonstrated the best samples of their products. The largest expositions this year were presented by the Stavropol Territory, Yaroslavl Region and the Republic of Tatarstan.
Enterprises of Austria, Belarus, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Japan participated in various sections of the exhibition. This year, the partner country of Golden Autumn was Serbia. The exposition of the republic aroused great interest among visitors: Serbian farmers, among other things, introduced the guests of the exhibition to their national food products.
LIVESTOCK AND BREEDING
The section "Livestock and breeding" presented the results of many years of breeding. In his exposition, which occupies an area of 4 thousand square meters. meters, about 150 companies demonstrated their achievements.
AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT AND EQUIPMENT FOR AIC
This year, more than 90 enterprises and organizations from Russia and five foreign countries brought agricultural machinery and related products. A total of more than 2 thousand square meters were allocated for the exposition. meters.
In addition, in the section "Equipment for livestock. Veterinary Medicine Feed ”64 Russian suppliers and manufacturers, as well as their colleagues from Austria, Belarus and Germany, demonstrated their products.
PRODUCTION MEANS FOR PLANT PRODUCTION. SEED BREEDING
Another 41 companies presented their achievements in the section “Means of production for crop production. Seed production ”: the latest fertilizers, plant protection products and other products needed to equip Russian agricultural enterprises and introduce modern technologies for the production, storage and primary processing of crop products.
BUSINESS PROGRAM
The exhibition was traditionally distinguished by a rich business program. Over the 4 days of the "Golden Autumn" in the 75th pavilion of VDNH, more than 50 events were held.
The thematic palette of the business program covered all the most pressing issues related to the current state and further development of different areas of the agricultural sector.
TO PROVIDE THE COUNTRY NOT ONLY WITH FOOD, BUT AND SEEDS
On the first day of the exhibition, the round table “Implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Breeding and Seed Production in Russia”, organized by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, attracted much attention of visitors. The event was attended by representatives of the FSBI "Rosselkhoztsentr" branches, members of the National Union of Breeders and Seed Breeders (NSSiS), headed by Director General A.V. Mikhilev, agricultural producers from all regions of the country, the scientific community.
Opening the round table, the First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Dzhambulat Khatuov noted that in order to solve the country's food security, it is important to provide it not only with food, but also with seeds. The dependence on imported seeds for such crops as sugar beets (97%), corn (55%), and sunflower (60%) remains high. The first deputy minister called for synchronizing the actions of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Russian Academy of Sciences and to achieve such results in order to restore the confidence of agricultural producers to the achievements of domestic selection.
DOMESTIC FARMERS HAVE THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
The participants in the panel session “Green chemistry and environmentally friendly fertilizers as a necessary component of sustainable development of society”, held at the exhibition, spoke about the need to ensure environmental safety of agricultural products.
Andrey Guryev, General Director of Phos-Agro PJSC, speaking during the session, spoke about the plans of the European Union to reduce the use of phosphorus fertilizers with a high content of cadmium - a metal that has a carcinogenic effect on the human body. From 2022, the EU will ban the circulation of phosphorus fertilizers with a cadmium content of more than 60 mg / kg. At the same time, the Agency for the Sanitary Safety of Food, Environment and Labor of France (the country is the largest consumer of phosphorus fertilizers in Europe) issued a recommendation on the need to reduce the cadmium content to 20 milligrams and less from 2020.
Turning to the state of affairs in our country, Andrei Guryev noted that Russian phosphorus fertilizers are produced from phosphate ore of magmatic origin, unique in its purity, mined on the Kola Peninsula, they are free of toxic substances. The use of these fertilizers enables farmers to grow products that are safe for human health without harming the soil.
PhosAgro CEO stressed that the purity of Russian fertilizers is the foundation for the creation of the Green Brand of Russian agricultural products, which ensures traceability of the environmental safety of the goods of this new segment of agriculture throughout the production line: from the raw material base of the Russian mineral fertilizer industry for plant growers and mineral feed additives for livestock before the sale of food to the final consumer.
PLANT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY until 2025
With a conversation about fertilizers, or rather, about the need to improve soil fertility in Russia, the conference “Strategy for the development of the crop production industry until 2025. Preliminary results of 2019 ”. Roman Nekrasov, Director of the Department of Crop Production, Mechanization, Chemicalization and Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, noted that Russia is one of the few countries in the world that has opportunities for extensive growth due to the availability of land, but today, when agricultural producers are faced with the task of increasing export volumes up to $ 45 billion by 2024, it is very important to maximize production per hectare. And the most important factor in the intensification is the use of mineral fertilizers.
According to Roman Nekrasov, 2019 is the first year from which the country's agricultural organizations should dramatically increase the volume of purchase and use of mineral fertilizers. According to experts, in order to raise the yield indicators in Russia to the level of the leading world powers, it is necessary to increase the volume of mineral fertilizers applied to 8,5 million tons by 2024.
The second important issue raised during the conference was also related to the use of fertilizers: it was about the need to increase the rate of liming of acidic soils in the country. According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, now 33 million hectares of acidic soils remain in Russia. In 2020, 1 billion rubles will be allocated from the federal budget to finance deoxidation processes. Agricultural organizations involved in this direction will receive subsidies, and those who will deal with the issue this year will be able to compensate up to 90% of the costs.
SALES MARKETS FOR THOSE WHO ARE READY FOR DEVELOPMENT
The panel discussion “Promoting the sales market for agricultural products” brought together agrarians and retailers in one hall.
Mikhail Abrosimov, director of the Magnit network management systems department, spoke in a very interesting way for agricultural producers, in which a representative of one of the country's largest retail chains said that Magnit was looking for domestic producers, was interested in fruitful collaboration and was always open to dialogue.
According to Mikhail Abrosimov, the network today seeks to build interaction with agricultural producers within the framework of agricultural contracts (2019 of them were signed in 55). At the same time, "Magnit" not only orders the farmer to manufacture a certain type of product, but also helps the farm find weaknesses in the organization of work (based on the audit results), provides financial support, and accompanies it throughout the entire growing cycle. Thanks to this, the network receives the goods of which it is confident, and the agricultural producer - a guaranteed sales market.
Abrosimov stressed that the network is looking for local suppliers that can withstand the growth rates that are set by the modern market. Magnit is ready to help farmers grow, but only to those who can speak the same language, who are ready to see their shortcomings, correct them and achieve more.
PROCESSING POTATOES AND VEGETABLES
This hot topic brought together the participants of the conference of the Potato Union of the Russian Federation. Within the framework of this meeting, many important speeches were made: about varieties created by domestic breeders for the direction of processing; new potato diseases that farmers had to fight in the season ended; phytosanitary situation in the main countries supplying seed potatoes to Russia.
Representatives of two processing enterprises shared the results of their work in the field of production of potato products. Yury Marchenko, purchasing director of Agro Russia / Ukraine, spoke about the experience of Pepsico, the largest potato processor in Russia. The KRiMM plant, which officially began work in September 2019, was presented by the company's CEO Gennady Ryazanov.
And the vice-president and director of the department of regional development of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia Maxim Belyaev summed up the results of the master classes organized jointly with the Potato Union. Culinary shows were held every day throughout the exhibition, where the chefs of Moscow restaurants taught the visitors of the "Golden Autumn" to cook exclusive, original and delicious potato dishes. Each master class contained a lot of interesting information, and both guests and culinary specialists made discoveries for themselves. Maxim Belyaev, for example, noted that he remembered many interesting varieties of potatoes for cooking and frying, and the most unusual variety seemed to be the Northern Lights - with lilac peel and rich dark purple pulp. By the way, this is an achievement of domestic breeders.
COMPETITION PROGRAM
At the agro-industrial exhibition "Golden Autumn-2019", tasting and competition commissions traditionally worked - experts evaluated the performance of industry representatives in many nominations. The results of 13 industry competitions were summed up. In particular, the most striking achievements in the production of high-quality food products, the development of pedigree and commercial livestock breeding, the manufacture of high-quality feed and additives, medicines and veterinary drugs, the cultivation of crop products, the development of highly efficient agricultural machinery and many others were noted.
In addition, medals and diplomas of the exhibition were awarded to the winners in the nominations "For effective information and consulting support of the agro-industrial complex", "For achieving high results in the field of sustainable development of rural areas", "The best peasant (farm) economy", "The best agricultural consumer cooperative" and etc.