June 30, 2017, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia Evgeny Nepoklonov took part in the annual meeting of the National Union of Pig Breeders.
"We have achieved food independence for meat mainly due to the development of pig and poultry.The success of the pig industry has a noticeable effect on the structure of exports of domestic agricultural products," said Evgeny Nepoklonov. The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Agriculture added that in recent years the industry has become competitive and attractive for investors. Since 2008, thanks to active technical modernization, more than 500 pig-breeding complexes and farms have been commissioned and reconstructed. Russia is one of the five largest pork producers (3.37 million tonnes in slaughter weight), along with China (53.5 million tonnes), EU countries (23.2 million tonnes), the United States (11.3 million tonnes) and Brazil (3.6 million tons).
"We expect that the production of pork in Russia in 2017 will be 4.57 million tons, which is 5% higher than in 2008. This indicator, while maintaining the growth rates of production in agricultural enterprises and investment activity in 2018, could grow to 4, 73 million tons in live weight," said Evgeny Nepoklonov. At the same time, he recalled that the main threat to the decline in livestock and production is the spread of the African swine fever virus.
Source: Press Service of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia.
