October 20, 2005

Russia plans to raise meat production seven percent by 2008

Russia's government forecast a seven percent rise in the country's meat production by 2008. The government said it planned to help farmers in raising efficiency of meat production and in increasing livestock numbers, with the above aim in mind.

The country's meat production has fallen over the past two years due to higher feed prices. Cumulative meat production for January to August 2005 fell 1.8 percent to reach 3.5 million tonnes, compared with the same period the previous year.

The government said 30.9 billion rubles might be set aside for development of domestic agriculture. Of this amount, 14.6 billion rubles would go to the livestock sector. In addition, a leasing programme would allow farmers to purchase about 100,000 head of breeding stock, and increase the capacity of modern animal farms by 130,000 head.                                                             

Authorities also considered granting small farms incentives to develop.                             

According to reports from the domestic meat industry, Russian meat production was expected to reach 7.5 million tonnes in 2010, up from 4.6 million tonnes in 2002. Meanwhile, Russian meat consumption was expected to reach 10 million tonnes in 2010 from 7.1 million in 2002.