EAEU Food Self-Sufficiency Reaches 94%, Russia Calls for Deeper Cooperation in Agricultural Science

Dragon Media News Desk

Food self-sufficiency across the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) reached 94 percent last year, Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said, stressing that deeper coordination on common policies, scientific research and agricultural technologies could further strengthen the bloc’s food security.

Addressing the seventh meeting of the EAEU Council on Agro-Industrial Policy, Lut said Russia is working to increase self-sufficiency in major agricultural products in line with its Food Security Doctrine. According to her, Russia fully met its domestic requirements for key agricultural products last year.

Russia has placed particular emphasis on crop breeding and seed production. The share of domestically produced sunflower seeds has increased from 44 percent to 59 percent, while the use of Russian sugar beet seeds has risen nearly threefold.

Modern genetic technologies are also being increasingly applied to raise productivity in livestock farming. Russia is developing genomic breeding systems and creating a national database for evaluating the breeding value of animals.

A specialised database covering breeding resources for 13 livestock species has already been established. Russia has expressed readiness to expand cooperation with other EAEU member states in supplying breeding materials and implementing joint scientific research projects.

Lut said consolidating scientific capabilities within the EAEU is essential for building an innovative foundation for a modern agro-industrial sector. She emphasised that joint work in agricultural science could accelerate the application of advanced technologies and improve the efficiency of the sector as a whole.

During the meeting, Lut also held bilateral discussions with senior agricultural officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, as well as with Armenia’s economy minister. The talks focused on prospects for expanding cooperation in agricultural trade, scientific and technological development, seed production, livestock farming and other areas of the agro-industrial sector.