Bashkiria covers its need in vegetables by half though meat is still imported from South America

UFA, 13 January 2020. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

Bashkiria only provides 50% of its need for vegetables, and meat is still imported in significant quantities from South America. In Bashkortostan, there is an overproduction of beef, but there is not enough poultry meat and pork. Today, the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Agriculture of Bashkortostan Ilshat Fazrakhmanov summed up the results of the agricultural sector in 2019 at a briefing session in the government.

“The problem is that block meat from Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil is still imported to the republic. The price for it is 30% cheaper than for meat produced in the republic, and so far, it is impossible to stop its import in full, although work is being carried out in this area jointly with law enforcement agencies”, said Ilshat Fazrakhmanov.

Inadequate vegetable production is primarily affected by weather conditions. The Vice Prime Minister noted that the situation in this industry could be corrected by the subsidies that began to be granted to farmers growing vegetables in greenhouses.

Last year, 3.2 million tons of grain crops were harvested in Bashkiria, while their supply amounted to 109 percent. Farmers of the republic also produced 1.6 million tons of milk (123.9% of the needs), 404 thousand tons of meat (88.8%). It was harvested 460 thousand tons of oil crops, which is 4.7 times higher than the need of the republic.

Ilshat Fazrakhmanov noted that the villagers harvested sugar beets twice as high as the needs of the republic. It has reduced wholesale and retail sugar prices.