Translated material
Whip and Tula gingerbread
Farmers were deciding how to increase the number of cattle
“In the Year of the Cow there will be a turning point in dairy farming,” said Minister of Agriculture Alexey Gordeev. He announced this in Tula at a visiting meeting of the interdepartmental working group on the priority national project “Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex”.As part of the implementation of this national project, the meeting participants discussed how to increase the livestock population in Russia and realize its genetic potential. “The issue of preserving cattle is of utmost importance for this year,” the minister emphasized. He recalled that in 2006-2007 Russia should ensure an increase in meat production by 7%, and milk production by 4.5%.
Over the past six years, the number of cattle in Russia has decreased catastrophically - from 54.7 million to 21.4 million heads. Currently, beef cattle farming in Russia is unprofitable, and the production of cattle meat is unprofitable. Naturally, in such a situation, imports of meat and meat products are growing, the share of which in the domestic market is more than 34%. This degree of Russia’s dependence on imports, coupled with the observed steady global rise in meat prices, provokes inflation and restrains the increase in real incomes of the population, and not only rural ones, Minister Gordeev is sure.
After listening to these bleak statements, the meeting participants began to propose their own ways to solve the problems of beef cattle farming. For example, in order to increase the number of cattle, in the Belgorod region, instead of imported breeding stock, they decided to use the most productive cattle located in their personal farmstead. We carried out certification of the livestock and bought it. The private owner received 4,000 rubles as compensation. for one head. According to the initiators of this project, private livestock is least susceptible to disease and produces healthier offspring.
But with the increase in the number of livestock due to artificial insemination of cows using the most advanced methods in Russia, things are not going very well so far. Biotechnologists are paid too little money. And they are prepared in an extremely primitive way. “Now the profession of an artificial insemination technician is unattractive,” said Ivan Dunin, academician of the All-Russian Research Institute of Breeding. “30% of technicians work part-time.” According to him, it is necessary to introduce biotechnologist qualifications on the basis of secondary specialized education, and not on the basis of three-week courses.
However, the personnel issue is extremely acute throughout agriculture. And not only because of the lack of specialists, but also because of the classic conflict of generations, which was stated by the participants of the meeting in Tula. According to young specialists in the agricultural complex, there is an urgent need to attract foreign management principles to the agricultural sector, which is already being used by leading producers of livestock products. However, business executives with extensive experience in management positions do not like this very much. However, such leaders were not seen in the list of leading regions.
On July 1, the state selection of projects for the construction, reconstruction and modernization of livestock complexes, which will be financed from the budget, closes. But even with budget money there are no applicants. “To date, 500 million rubles. remained free,” the minister states with regret. -- We need objects, legal entities with projects and documentation. We have regions where there are enough such agreements. But I want all regions to have equal opportunities.”
And he summed up the meeting with a very sad conclusion: “We don’t have a money problem, we have a competence problem, a problem of idleness!” In general, if cows understood human speech, they would clearly hear few comforting words in Tula...