The Leningrad region has great potential for the production, processing and development of logistics for the sale of rapeseed and products from it. This conclusion was reached by the participants of the profile session at the Agrorus 2023 exhibition in St. Petersburg. According to experts, comprehensive support can make the industry a leader in terms of intensive rapeseed production and its yield, and proximity to transport infrastructure will provide access to global export routes.
Now Russia occupies the sixth place in terms of the sown area of rapeseed – 2.1 million hectares out of 42 million hectares of the world’s area. “The sown area of the Leningrad Region is 218,000 hectares, of which winter sowing is 6.6%. Here you have a huge potential for development, it is possible and necessary to increase winter sowing. And given the excellent climatic conditions of the region specifically for rapeseed, the presence of organic fertilizers, I think that by 2027 the sown area in the Leningrad Region can double and reach 10 thousand hectares, with a yield of 3 tons per hectare, ”said Andrey, the founder of Agroinvest Golovanov. He predicts that with appropriate support from the regional authorities and a system of subsidies, rapeseed production in the region could grow to 100,000 tons per year.
The head of the RASRAPS Association, Sergey Tuchin, drew attention to the fact that, in principle, there is no risk of overproduction of rapeseed, since there is a huge market for this crop both in Russia and abroad. Golovanov also agrees with this opinion – according to him, rapeseed cake and meal are in demand as feed in animal husbandry, and rapeseed oil is a promising product for export to the markets of China and Southeast Asia.
Andrey Reshetov, Chairman of the Committee for the Agro-Industrial and Fishery Complex of the Leningrad Region, in turn, noted that animal husbandry is a key area for the region. “And of course, for the development of the livestock industry, it is also important to develop the production of protein feed on our own raw materials. In this sense, domestic rapeseed is the only alternative to imported soybeans,” the head of the committee emphasized.
Vladimir Bezrukov, Director General of SPb Isotop (a structure of the State Corporation Rosatom engaged in the export of agricultural products), believes that the Leningrad Region also has great potential in terms of logistics for rapeseed and its derivatives. “We see that the logistics of rapeseed products through the ports of the North-West is more profitable than through railway crossings in the Far East. In this sense, this is another advantage for the production of rapeseed in the Leningrad Region,” Bezrukov emphasized. According to him, it is rapeseed and rapeseed oil that have export potential for the Chinese market. “The problem of processing, of course, stops producers in the Northwestern Federal District, but there are partners who are now developing processing, there are capacities in the Central District. The question is precisely to increase the production of this crop, ”said Bezrukov. He also said that his company is ready to engage in the purchase of rapeseed, its products and pre-financing of production.
Source: Rosbalt
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