According to her, last year 79 billion rubles of five-year preferential loans were issued for the purchase of agricultural machinery, and this year the amount is already over 40 billion rubles.
According to Roman Nekrasov, Director of the Department of Crop Production, Mechanization, Chemification and Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture, equipment and technologies determine crop formation by 30%, chemical fertilizers and plant protection products – 20%, plant breeding and genetics. – another 20%. “75% of our factors are manageable. We can use them to achieve results and ensure the country’s food security in the most adverse weather conditions,” he said.
There are almost 90% Russian and Belarusian tractors on the market, 85% are grain combines, 73% are forage harvesters. These are generally good indicators. But there are critical positions. In addition, our mechanical engineering was dependent until the last moment on the supply of foreign components, Nekrasov noted.
“We have taken a big step forward, we have not allowed serious interruptions in the supply of agricultural machinery to farmers. Another thing is that the withdrawal of foreign companies from the market has attracted other players, from China, India, Iran. They are looking for access to the Russian market, since we have a promising market”, he said.
At the same time, if Western equipment was more expensive, its “friendly” alternative is cheaper, and this is a definite challenge for Russian machine builders.
The load on the tractors remains stable and is approximately 273 hectares of arable land per tractor, on the combine harvesters the load is very high: 531 thousand hectares per harvester of cereal crops only. In the last five years, the planted area has gone from 79 to 82 million hectares. This requires a commensurate development of agricultural engineering, Nekrasov noted.
The power supply is 155 horsepower per 1 ha. The growth rates are impressive. But we can’t rule out staff shortages. Therefore, we need machines that are comfortable to use, high-performance, and affordable.
Roman Nekrasov recognized that the situation with the acquisition of equipment at the beginning of the year was very difficult. But today, for tractors and combines, acquisition rates are higher than last year. In addition to federal support measures, the regions are seeking reserves.
A preferential delivery plan for tractors was also developed, which included 5.8 thousand units. Belarusian models will have fixed prices until the end of the year. And for Russian – a discount of 10-20% depending on the region.
