What they won't sow: farmers have announced the risks of a shortage of vegetable seeds

Russian farmers are afraid of a shortage of vegetable seeds. The reason is the introduction by the Rosselkhoznadzor of a ban on the import of seeds from the Netherlands (they account for the majority of imports, which is about 30%). The business claims that it did not have time to prepare and, according to him, greenhouse crops and late-harvest vegetables, which are still being sown, may suffer. It is not yet possible to fully replace seeds with imports, but for some vegetables there are already those that show good results and are not inferior to their foreign counterparts. The Rosselkhoznadzor explains the decision by the deterioration of the situation with pests that are imported with seeds. Therefore, the ban will remain in effect until the Netherlands takes corrective measures.

Why are farmers worried about banning seeds from the Netherlands

Agricultural producers fear a shortage of vegetable seeds in Russia amid a ban on their import from the Netherlands. Representatives of several large industry associations told Izvestia about this.

— The decision to ban the temporary import of seeds from the Netherlands is a rather difficult situation for farmers. The sowing season of vegetable crops is underway, and for some of them it will last until August," Stanislav Sankeev, executive director of the People's Farmer Association, explained to Izvestia.

According to him, farmers are provided with Russian table beet hybrids, which show good results and are not inferior to their foreign counterparts. The situation with carrots is different. The members of the association note that the quality of the seed is worse than that of imported crops.

— We cannot imagine how it is possible to quickly import the entire vegetable group. If such measures are to be resorted to, then this should be done gradually, without prejudice to producers and the Russian food supply. Of course, not all import of seeds has been closed, but the Netherlands is one of the main importers of vegetable groups," Stanislav Sankeev said.

This opinion is shared by the National Union of Fruit and Vegetable Producers.

— The business is concerned that decisions on the ban are made simultaneously — in too short a time. Having a transition period before the final ban would make it much easier for businesses to operate in such conditions. Since many suppliers have contractual obligations to consumer companies (agricultural producers) and the existence of a transition period before the closure of an entire country would make it possible to more effectively fulfill contractual obligations, the press service of the association explained.

They noted that, based on the examples of other states, the practice of phasing out actions has proven itself well, when certain regions of the country in which quarantine facilities were directly discovered are first closed. At the same time, according to the Fruit and Vegetable Union, the spread of quarantine facilities from foreign countries on the territory of the Russian Federation is categorically unacceptable.

The Association of Peasant (Farmer) Farms and Agricultural Cooperatives of Russia (AKKOR) told Izvestia that they had already felt problems with seeds.

— This year we already had a certain shortage of imported carrot and beet seeds. But, probably, the reasons for the introduction of this ban were very good," Ivan Pireev, head of the AKKOR branch in the Novgorod region, told Izvestia.

Evgeny Podshebyakin, head of the AKKOR branch in the Tula region, complained about problems with potato seeds.

— Potato breeding in Russia began about five years ago. During this time, it is difficult to create stable and productive varieties. Therefore, we may not have a good harvest of this vegetable without imported seeds. Although the ban itself is understandable," he said.

Tatyana Gubina, the head of the staff of the Potato Union association, told Izvestia that it was not potato growers who would suffer more from the ban, but those farmers who grow vegetables in greenhouses.

— Potatoes are not a hybrid crop, they can be propagated. In addition, some foreign seed companies have already localized their production here. Therefore, now it is not even necessary to import breeding tubes into the Russian Federation. For the most part, these are varieties for processing that are not available in Russian breeding," she explained.

Earlier, the Accounting Chamber, after checking the implementation of the Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Agriculture, drew attention to the fact that by the end of 2023, the level of self-sufficiency with seeds of domestic breeding was 62.5%. But by the end of 2024, this figure increased by more than 5% and reached 67.6%, said Alexander Shkarin, deputy director of the Department of Breeding and Seed Production at the Ministry of Agriculture.

When can the import of seeds be resumed?

The Rosselkhoznadzor's press service reminded Izvestia that since November 23, 2023, the agency has already banned direct supplies of seed and planting material from the Netherlands to Russia. At the same time, they noted that the detection of infections dangerous to plants was systemic in nature. In particular, pepino mosaic virus, bacterial spotting of pumpkin crops, ragweed wormwood and nightshade tricolor were detected in seeds from the Netherlands.

— This happened against the background of the absence for a year and a half from the Dutch side of confirmations of the phytosanitary status of seed and planting material sent to Russia. Also, the phytosanitary condition of seed and planting material originating from the Netherlands, which comes through third countries, has subsequently become more complicated," the ministry explained.

In this regard, the press service clarified, the Rosselkhoznadzor considered it necessary to ban the import of Dutch seed and planting material into the Russian Federation from June 30, 2025.

— These restrictions will remain in effect until the Dutch side takes corrective measures. So far, no information has been received from her about the phytosanitary measures taken to prevent the import of infected seed and planting material into Russia," the department said.

Izvestia also sent a request to the Ministry of Agriculture with a request to clarify how farmers should cope with the situation if the problem of import substitution of seeds has not yet been definitively resolved.

At the end of 2024, the government extended quotas for the import of seeds from unfriendly countries for 2025, their total volume will amount to 18.3 thousand tons.

As Izvestia was informed by the agroanalytic consulting company Technologies of Growth, the share of Russia's dependence on foreign-grown seeds from the Netherlands has not changed much recently.

— The share of Russia's dependence on seeds of foreign breeding from the Netherlands is about 80% of all imports. But these are seeds intended specifically for commercial agricultural production. For personal subsidiary farms, the ratio is completely different, and our breeders can do quite well here," Tamara Reshetnikova, a representative of the company, explained to Izvestia.

According to her, most likely, the ban on the import of seeds from the Netherlands is temporary and as soon as the supplier country provides evidence that it has coped with this situation, it will be lifted. At the same time, she noted that analogues of Dutch seeds exist, but there are questions about their varietal properties. For example, not only the crop yield plays a role, but also the appearance of the vegetable, the share of output per square meter, the length of the harvest — fruits ripen immediately or after some time.

There are indeed a lot of Dutch seeds in Russia, Leonid Kholod, ex-Deputy Minister of Agriculture, confirmed to Izvestia. According to him, if the ban is prolonged, farmers will need to switch to other imported seeds. According to the expert, in order to change this situation, it is necessary to seriously encourage Russian science to work with breeding.