A record soybean harvest is planned for this year in the Russian Federation. Thanks to this, the country can become a net exporter of these products.
This season, Russia can produce up to 6.47 million tons of soybeans. This is more than in 2022: then the harvest was about 6 million tons.
It is noteworthy that the geography of soybean production has recently changed. Previously, the Far East, especially the Amur region, was undoubtedly the leader in this area.
Now the emphasis is gradually shifting towards the center of the country.
For example, these are the Belgorod, Kursk and Oryol regions. This year, the increase in production was mainly due to them.
In general, the total area under soybeans is expanding.
Over the past 5 years, it has increased by 33%, from 2.9 million hectares to 3.6 million hectares. Thanks to this, the soybean harvest also increased by 44% over 5 years, from 4 million tons to 6 million.
What problems does Russia have with soybean production?
One of the main problems is the insufficient supply of seeds, which still makes itself felt in most crops grown in the Russian Federation.
As for soybeans, the supply of own material is at the level of 43%, which is significantly less than required.
At the same time, it turned out that Russia depends in terms of soybean seeds on supplies exclusively from unfriendly countries: France, Canada, Australia, Serbia.
This suggests that measures need to be taken to correct the current situation.
The second problem — despite the fairly high production rates, the Russian Federation is actually a net importer of this type of product, since it annually purchases up to 2 million tons of Brazilian soybeans.
However, this year could be a turning point: the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation previously hinted that it could ban the supply of GMO soybeans from Brazil if its own production exceeds 6 million tons this season, and the fact that it will exceed is practically beyond doubt.
Finally, with regard to soybean exports, Russia currently supplies it to a single country — China.
This means dependence on a single buyer, which is also not an optimal option. However, so far the export volumes are very small, about 1 million tons per year.
At the same time, Russia satisfies China’s need for imported soybeans by no more than 1%, so there is almost limitless potential for development here.
Experts have little doubt that in the near future the volume of soybean production in the Russian Federation will increase, since this type of product has practically very good export potential.
