– What is the share of the agro-industrial complex in the economy of the Tambov region?
– The Tambov region is originally an agrarian region: 30% of the gross regional product comes from the agro-industrial complex. Our main wealth is the fertile chernozem soils, which occupy 87% of the arable land. And the area of arable land is 2 million hectares. We specialize in the production of cereals, sunflowers, sugar beets, potatoes. In 2022, 4.5 million tons of cereals, 800 thousand tons of sunflower, more than 4 million tons of sugar beets, about 300 thousand tons of soybeans were harvested from the fields. In the ranking of regions, the Tambov region ranks third in terms of sugar beet production and eleventh in terms of cereals. In terms of flour production, the Tambov region occupies the third position in Russia.
In the livestock industry, the region ranks second in Russia in poultry meat production and fifth in pork production.
– If we talk about exports, what place does Africa occupy in them?
– The Tambov region successfully solves the problems of ensuring the country’s food security. We have reached such a level of production that we are already actively developing exports and intend to increase the volume of deliveries to African countries.
Enterprises of the Tambov region agro-industrial complex successfully cooperate with a number of countries in Central, West and East Africa. It is mainly about the export of agricultural products: pork, poultry, sugar, wheat, corn, flour. Export volumes will increase.
According to Agroexport, the volume of exports of agricultural products from the Tambov region at real prices for the period 2021-2022. amounted to 664 million US dollars. In this volume, Africa has a small share: 27 million.
But trade with African countries is growing dynamically. For example, in Morocco, the supply of sugar in the first half of 2023 increased 10 times compared to the same periods of the previous year. We supply a very large volume of meat and meat products to Angola.
We believe that the north of the African continent: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, are more promising areas for further development of cooperation. Of all the African countries, these are the main trading partners of the Russian Federation.
To expand the supply of products from the region’s agro-industrial complex to African countries, the priority is the development of new logistics corridors.
On behalf of the head of the region, Maxim Yegorov, the Government is working on the optimization and coordination of traffic flows, the modernization of road and railway infrastructure, the effective territorial distribution of storage space and the introduction of digital technologies.
The Regional Export Support Center helps agricultural producers to enter foreign markets. We look forward to establishing mutually beneficial relationships on the forum. The two companies are already negotiating. These are the Saburovsky Combine of Bakery Products, the leader in the flour milling industry in Russia, and the Inzhavinsky oil mill, which produces sunflower oil, which is in demand in Africa.
Unfortunately, few companies participate in the summit, but here we are only solving the common tasks of expanding constructive interaction with other countries.
– What helps the region to achieve leadership? Technology, black soil, weather?
– The Tambov region is risky farming territory. Weather has a significant impact on production. But modern technology can mitigate these risks. In addition, agricultural insurance is carried out successfully. More than a quarter of the crops are insured. In general, our region is one of the leaders in agricultural insurance in the country.
We are now actively working on the introduction of UAVs into production processes. They are used to treat plants for diseases, to apply liquid and bulk fertilizers. In addition, in some cases, even small-seeded crop plantings can be carried out. In general, the use of drones has some advantages over ground vehicles and their accessories. This saves time, money, and the accuracy of field processing.
Our agricultural sector makes a certain contribution to the development of astronautics. We have a wonderful experimental center “M-Kons” in the region, which develops menus and produces meals for Russian crews. The plant is a member of the Mars-500 project. Functional foods and fresh apples are delivered to the International Space Station. Space rations are compiled taking into account the taste preferences of the Russian crew members. The menu of the Russian crew includes green pea soup, vegetable hodgepodge with fresh cabbage, Michurinsky tomato sauce, Michurinsky vitamin salad, apple mousse and much more.
The development of the production of functional food products for astronauts, athletes and other categories of consumers is a promising direction in the processing industry. By the way, I would like to note that Michurinsk is the only agrarian-scientific city in the Russian Federation.
– How actively do farmers in the Tambov region use digital technologies?
– Literally eight years ago some of our farmers used the precision farming technology system. And now there are more than 60 agricultural companies. Advanced farms, there are more than a hundred, also use the parallel driving system.
Digital technologies are used in the smart irrigation system, soil sensors, autonomous weather stations. In industrial horticulture there is also the Smart Garden, the Smart Storage system, projects for the construction of smart greenhouses are being implemented. The Smart Greenhouse project has also found application in Tambov. The Michurinsk greenhouse complex with a controlled microclimate, an automated irrigation system and an additional lighting system for plants will be expanded from 60 to 90 hectares. It will become, if not the largest in Russia in terms of production, then the largest complex under one roof.
Big Data technologies are also being used: smart irrigation systems, soil sensors, autonomous weather stations
Digitization makes it possible to switch to a high-tech and transparent interaction of all participants in the agricultural market. The Tambov region was the first to test, and now the system of the Ministry of Agriculture on agricultural land, the system for monitoring and forecasting food security is being actively implemented. In addition, since September 1 of last year, all our agricultural producers participate in the grain traceability program in the GIS “Grano”.
The combination of technologies and information ensures prompt adoption of the right decisions.
