Agricultural produce growth pace is down in Tatarstan

According to the Tatarstan Statistics Service, the dynamics of agricultural production decreased in early 2024.

If it was 103,7% in January 2023, 102,2% in February, the indicators totalled 101,3% in January and February 2024.

Agricultural production indicators have been 3% down since early 2024. There was seen a decline in the production rate since the middle of the second quarter and till the end of 2023, which had a negative impact on early 2024 — there is some growth, but it is slow. The peak of agricultural product output was in the middle of summer, which is 30% above the average number as of early 2024.

Agricultural producers suffering a 8% loss

It was said a meeting of the Tatarstan Ministry of Agriculture earlier that Tatarstan agricultural producers had been suffering from economic hardships for the second year in a row, though they yield a good harvest of grains and record-high milk production volumes. 3.6 million tonnes of grain, 2.1 million tonnes of milk, 1.1 million tonnes of vegetables and 1.7 million tonnes of sugar beet — the gigantic harvest of 2023 did not save the Agro-Industrial Complex from financial losses. Price swings encouraged by a surplus of record grain harvest, Belarusian powdered milk and logistic difficulties led to an inevitable production decline.

“We used to blame the weather or the market for our failures, but there has never been perfect weather and market,” Tatarstan Minister of Agricultural Marat Zyabbarov said in a self-criticising way.

The drought, a collapse of purchase prices and expensive loans brought a sudden decrease in the production of agricultural goods — 8%. The ministry requested FBK consultancy from Moscow to develop an anti-crisis strategy with a focus on doubling the growth of annual public money injections — from today’s 16.4 billion rubles to 48.2 billion rubles.