Rostov region in January-February increased meat production - by 2%, milk - 3%

The Rostov region in January-February 2023 increased MEAT production by 2%, MILK - 2.8% compared to the same period last year, First Deputy Governor Viktor Goncharov told Interfax.

"Farms of all categories produced 58.6 thousand tons of meat (in live weight), 100.2 thousand tons of milk," Goncharov said.

He added that egg production remains at the level of 2022 at 247.7 million.

Goncharov explained that the development of dairy cattle breeding remains a priority in animal husbandry. For the development of the industry this year it is planned to modernize at least 5 farms.

Also, in order to preserve and increase the gene pool of breeds bred in the region, in 2022, a separate department, the Regional Information and Breeding Center (RISC), was created on the basis of the Rostov Regional Station for the Control of Animal Diseases with an Anti-Epizootic Detachment.

"RISC carries out work on issuing breeding certificates, restoring primary documentation in breeding livestock breeding, creating a biocollection of breeding animals, collecting, summarizing and analyzing information about breeding farm animals bred in the region," Goncharov said.

He added that on the basis of the station for the fight against animal diseases, a laboratory for selection control of milk quality has been created and has the status of a breeding organization. The laboratory is open to provide services for assessing the quality of milk for breeding purposes and determining the quality of breeding products of dairy cattle breeding.

The first deputy governor noted that the laboratory is equipped with certified high-precision equipment for determining the percentage of fat, protein, density, and the number of somatic cells. All work is carried out in compliance with national standards of the Russian Federation.