Lut pointed to the stable development of agriculture in Russia

Prices for nitrogen-containing fertilizers, as well as gas prices, are stable in Russia, so the agricultural industry is growing. On April 20, Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said this in a conversation with Izvestia correspondent Pavel Kuznetsov on the sidelines of the Small Motherland — the Strength of Russia forum.

"In fact, fertilizer prices are rising only within a set time frame, which, it seems to me, has not changed for 3-4 years. <...> Therefore, prices for fertilizers, especially for nitrogen—containing fertilizers, will be stable for Russian consumers," explained Lut.

She added that since the beginning of the year, the volume of food production has been growing, although last year the bulk of the growth was in agricultural products. According to her, Russian exports to partner countries have exceeded $40 billion in recent years.

"We expect an increase in production this year. <...> We are confident that Russia can be a stable supplier of food on the world market, which is exactly what we are doing," the minister stressed.

You can't sow, you can't reap: rising fertilizer prices may affect crops

Farmers are asking the Ministry of Agriculture to return export duties and introduce quotas for the domestic market.

On April 17, Dmitry Patrushev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, held a meeting on the progress of spring field work as part of a working trip to the Volgograd Region, one of the key agricultural regions of Russia. It was noted that in order to stimulate the technical modernization of the agro-industrial complex, financing of preferential leasing has been increased to 15 billion rubles this year, and more than 3 thousand units of machinery and equipment have already been delivered to the fields.