Farmers have become less optimistic about their business. Syngenta presented the next indexes of development of agricultural producers

The Syngenta company presented the next indices of development of agricultural producers in Russia, which it prepares together with the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR), analysts from IFORS and VTsIOM. The main purpose of the study is to annually assess the state of the agricultural market and measure the degree of optimism of agricultural producers, assess their investment plans, and the availability of financial resources.

The dynamics of the development of the agricultural sector in the 2020/21 season showed a slight decline: during the survey, respondents rated the year at 3.35 points out of 5, while 2019/20 received a score of 3.61. However, despite this, in the current season, 22% of farms managed to expand the sown areas, 47% left them unchanged. As IKAR CEO Dmitry Rylko said, despite many difficulties, in the outgoing season, the marginality of crop enterprises in rubles reached record levels: all major agricultural crops, except for sugar beet, showed growth, the most noticeable was in rapeseed, sunflower, soybeans, and corn.

The survey also showed that 30% of respondents support the government's actions to regulate prices for agricultural products, 53% are negative about this, and the remaining 17% found it difficult to answer. According to the survey, 36% of farms hope to increase their income this season, which is 27 percentage points less than last season, follows from the indices. At the same time, 73% of respondents plan to ensure the growth of profitability due, first of all, to low production costs (with high yields). 43% hope for higher selling prices. In addition, this season, 77% of respondents increased their investment in fixed assets (66% in 2019/20), in working capital - 64% (64%).

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“Despite the overall low assessment of the 2020/21 season, some farmers continue to bet on growth and increase investment in fixed assets and innovative methods of precision farming, which will improve the efficiency of agribusiness,” says Anton Pushkarev, head of communications at Syngenta in Russia. “We see that despite the shocks caused by the pandemic and the climate factor, the situation in crop production remains generally positive. Over the past few years, Russian farmers have become stronger, they believe in themselves and their capabilities. The rating also showed that among medium-sized producers there is a group of leaders who are actively adopting the best world practices and rapidly introducing innovations that allow them to get a predictable yield even in the most difficult weather conditions.”