Alexander Tkachev: It is necessary to build 800 dairy farms in Russia till 2020

"The expiring 2016 can be called a year of big wins in agroindustrial complex. The large-scale work is done. Today, we make plans for the future more confidently. The results of our work were highly praised by the President," - said the head of the Ministry of agriculture.

The Head of the Ministry of agriculture said that today the industry faces the task to keep the level of the previous year and use subsidies more efficiently.

"The growth of agricultural production exceeded 4%, this is a good indicator taking into account the stagnation in the economy. The agroindustrial complex was its driver. In 2016 we received record-breaking results on many items: for the first time Russia became a major supplier of sugar to the world market. Production of greenhouse vegetables increased by 8%. By the end of 2016 production of livestock and poultry increased by 4%," - said Alexander Tkachev.

In addition, the official noted that the country needs to increase milk production by 5-7 million tons.

"More than 800 dairy farms must be built till 2020 to reach self-sufficiency in milk. Farms should be large – for 3 thousand heads of cattle each. All developed countries overcame the deficiency in milk long ago. At the expense of smallholders, where there is a reduction, we stand still by milk volume," - said the Minister.

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