Caucasus can feed Russia, say expertsThe environmental conditions in the North Caucasus could allow it to become one of the centers of agricultural production in Russia if the proper policy is organized,experts Sergey Lisovsky, deputy head of the Council of Federation committee for agriculture and Vasily Uzun, the research fellow at the Center of agrarian and food policy at RANEPA told VK.Lisovsky called for the agrarian sector in the North Caucasus to be developed. "We are not using our possibilities sufficiently, because the Caucasus can be a strong producer of meat, fruit and vegetables."He also mentioned the advantages of imports from the South Caucasus: "Azerbaijan and Armenia can provide us with early fruit and vegetables." He added, however, that he supports the import replacement policy, therefore "in the harvest period the shop stores should be left to Russian producers."Vasily Uzun noted that the agrarian policy in the Caucasus should be changed to give land to farmers and the private sector. "The population needs access to the land, the possibility to rent it or own it, to make the documents quickly and to work. At the moment it is very difficult: almost all the land in the North Caucasian republics belongs to agricultural enterprises, while 90% of production is provided by farmers and small private producers. If they receive more land and more possibilities for development, they could replace a significant part of [imported] food," Uzun said.
The environmental conditions in the North Caucasus could allow it to become one of the centers of agricultural production in Russia if the proper policy is organized,experts Sergey Lisovsky, deputy head of the Council of Federation committee for agriculture and Vasily Uzun, the research fellow at the Center of agrarian and food policy at RANEPA told VK.
Lisovsky called for the agrarian sector in the North Caucasus to be developed. "We are not using our possibilities sufficiently, because the Caucasus can be a strong producer of meat, fruit and vegetables."
He also mentioned the advantages of imports from the South Caucasus: "Azerbaijan and Armenia can provide us with early fruit and vegetables." He added, however, that he supports the import replacement policy, therefore "in the harvest period the shop stores should be left to Russian producers."
Vasily Uzun noted that the agrarian policy in the Caucasus should be changed to give land to farmers and the private sector. "The population needs access to the land, the possibility to rent it or own it, to make the documents quickly and to work. At the moment it is very difficult: almost all the land in the North Caucasian republics belongs to agricultural enterprises, while 90% of production is provided by farmers and small private producers. If they receive more land and more possibilities for development, they could replace a significant part of [imported] food," Uzun said.
