Achievements of the Chelyabinsk Region Announced at the Agricultural Exhibition in Yekaterinburg

The successes of the Chelyabinsk region in the development of the agro-industrial complex were announced at the international agro-industrial exhibition "Agroprom Ural", which is taking place in Yekaterinburg.
First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Chelyabinsk region Evgeny Litvinov took part in the plenary session "From field to counter: sustainable development strategy to ensure food security and EXPORT growth" and spoke about the implementation of investment projects in agriculture, production of products, training of specialists for the agro-industrial complex and the development of agro-export.
The Chelyabinsk region, like all regions of the Urals, has been tasked with increasing agricultural production, increasing the export of agricultural products.
Over the past 10 years, large-scale investment projects in agriculture and the processing industry have been implemented in the Chelyabinsk region, modern production facilities equipped with the latest equipment have been created. The region is fully self-sufficient in basic types of food, some of the products are sold outside the region, including for export. According to statistics for 2023, self-sufficiency in MEAT and meat products reaches 280%, including poultry - 157%, chicken eggs - 172%, bread products, including pasta - 317%.
In the first half of 2024 , the South Urals retained its position in the Russian ratings of food production. The region entered the top three subjects of RUSSIA in the production of FLOUR, cereals, pasta, eggs, and durum wheat. In terms of poultry production, it ranks 10th, pork - 15th, greenhouse vegetables - 14th in Russia and 2nd in the Urals Federal District (36 thousand tons were grown in 2023). 312.3 thousand tons of flour, 109.3 thousand tons of various cereals, 145.5 thousand tons of pasta were produced.
In the first 9 months of 2024, 184.5 thousand tons of poultry meat were produced, an increase of 3.3% compared to the previous year, 76.8 thousand tons of pork were produced, and 1 billion 218 million eggs were produced, up 3.3% compared to the previous year, said Evgeny Litvinov.
“Despite unfavorable weather conditions, for the third year in a row, South Ural farmers have been harvesting more than two million tons of grain. The harvesting of grain and leguminous crops has been completed. According to operational data as of October 31, 2 million 170 thousand tons of grain in bunker weight were harvested. Of the total grain volume, 451 thousand tons were durum wheat, which is a historical record for the Chelyabinsk Region and second place in Russia after the Orenburg Region,” said the First Deputy Minister. “Other achievements include a record buckwheat harvest of 62 thousand tons. It is also expected that 250 thousand tons of oilseeds will be harvested: the harvesting of oilseeds continues, a little more than half of the fields have been threshed. In order to increase the harvest of these crops, farmers expanded the area of ​​their sowing in the spring," said Evgeny Litvinov.
In the Chelyabinsk region, capital construction of new capacities in crop production and livestock farming continues. In order to support farmers in these investments, the region subsidizes part of the costs under the so-called capex program. The total annual volume of subsidies to reimburse a significant part of the costs of capital construction has been increased from the initial 291 million rubles to 729 million rubles. In 2024, several grain storage facilities and 17 livestock facilities will be subsidized. By the way, investments in the construction of livestock facilities exceed 3.5 billion rubles.
Investment projects are being implemented by the SPK Koelginskoye im. Shundeeva I.N., OOO Khlebinka, KH Karsakbaev K.B., AO Plemzavod, AO Chelyabinskaya Poultry Farm, Uralskaya Myasnaya Kompaniya (Cherkizovo Group), OOO Chebarkulskaya Ptitsa, OOO Agrofirma Ariant, Rodnikovsky Pig Complex (Tavros Company).
Thus, AO Chelyabinskaya Poultry Farm is implementing a number of investment projects worth a total of 2 billion rubles. This will increase egg production by 140 million pieces. OOO Chebarkulskaya Ptitsa is allocating 409 million rubles for the construction of poultry houses and robotization of production. The projects will be completed in 2025. In addition, the Sitno company is building a breeding poultry reproducer for the production of its own genetic material. The cost of the project is 3.5 billion rubles.
In July 2024, the Sitno company's selection and seed production center for the production of grain crop seeds with a capacity of over 10 thousand tons was put into operation. The investment volume is 851 million rubles. The plant will provide high-quality seeds to enterprises in the south of the region, where the main grain harvest is produced. Upon reaching full capacity, it is planned to sell seeds to other regions of Russia.
With the help of regional subsidies (202 million rubles), agroleasing programs and preferential lending, the Chelyabinsk Region continues to upgrade its agricultural machinery fleet. Since 2019, farmers have purchased 5,093 units of equipment for a total of 15.4 billion rubles. Regional equipment manufacturers work effectively: Varnaagromash LLC, ChKZ Agro LLC, Zarya LLC and others.
Innovations in agriculture dictate an increased demand for qualified personnel. The South Ural State Agricultural University plans to open a poultry department. The university plans to open five agricultural modules on the site of the inter-university campus: a demonstration site "Artificial Intelligence in the AIC", a carbon laboratory, a laboratory of hydromechanics of gravity flows and research of micro- and mini-hydroelectric power plants and small hydroelectric facilities, a heat power laboratory of heat pumps, a genetic laboratory. The South Ural Agro-Industrial College in the village of Argayash opened a Center for Training in the Operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The college, among 30 educational institutions, won the Russian competition, and the region was chosen as a pilot. There are 28 agricultural classes in general education schools in the Chelyabinsk Region.
The volume of agricultural exports in the Chelyabinsk region has more than doubled over the past five years. In 2023, products worth 254.9 million US dollars were exported , which is the highest figure in the Urals Federal District. As of the end of September 2024, deliveries already amounted to $171.1 million in comparable prices, 22% higher than the same period last year.
Agroexports were carried out to more than 30 countries. Cereals, grain, flour , oil and fat products , and confectionery are in particular demand. Over 80% of products are supplied to Asian countries ( Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan , Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, CHINA , Mongolia, Azerbaijan ). Supplies are made to the countries of the Middle East, Europe, North America, India and Africa.
One of the promising markets is the Chinese market . The flour of the companies "Sitno" and "Soyuzpischeprom", desserts of the company "Ura-konditery" are already well known there. Today the goal is to introduce new products to the Chinese market. Several mutual visits took place this year alone. The Yuandong Corporation visited the region with negotiations on deliveries. The delegation of the Chelyabinsk region, which included the companies "Podovinnovskoye Moloko" and "Association "Soyuzpischeprom", visited the cities of Heihe, Harbin and Changchun. And the business delegation of the PRC visited these companies on a return visit.