Minister: Russia meets 90% of domestic demand for vegetables

MOSCOW, Feb 1 (PRIME) -- Russia satisfied 90% of domestic demand for vegetables in 2016, and further modernization and expansion of the greenhouse industry is needed to boost production, Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov said on Wednesday.

“We raised glass-grown vegetables output by 8% to 691,000 tonnes and commissioned 160 hectares of greenhouses increasing self-sufficiency to about 90%,” Tkachyov said at the All-Russia Agricultural Meeting.

Additional annual growth of production of 200,000 tonnes is needed to achieve absolute independence from vegetable imports by 2020. “This implies modernization and construction at least 400 hectares of new greenhouse complexes every year,” the official added.

It is necessary to create 15,000 hectares of new gardens annually to substitute fruit imports. “This may allow us to add 70,000 hectares of garden properties to raise fruit output by 500,000 tonnes in four years, and by 1.5 million tonnes by 2025,” Tkachyov said.

About 14,000 hectares of gardens was commissioned in 2016.

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