November 6, 2008

Russia's poultry production can meet the domestic demand and reduce poultry imports dependency to zero in future, said Chief Sanitary Veterinarian Gennady Onischenko.

Poultry imports have been declining over the years, said Onischenko. Citing official data, poultry imports in 1997 totalled 64.5 percent of total volume of consumed products, but fell to 52 percent in 2002. This year's rate is expected to reach only 36 percent.

Domestic poultry production will total 2.2 million tonnes this year, accounting to more than 64 percent of total volume, while per capita meat consumption will increase up to 23.2 kg, said Onishchenko.

Russia plans to increase poultry production to 3.3 million tonnes from 2009-2012, said Onishchenko, adding that per capita consumption will grow to 27.6 kg while imports share will total to only 8 percent by 2012.