Victoria Abramchenko named the main vectors of development of the agro-industrial complex

Among them are total digitalization and alternative proteins.

Today, the global agricultural industry annually produces more than 10 billion tons of food and non-food products worth $3.5 trillion. Oleg Kobyakov, director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for relations with Russia, said this during the session “Food. Transformation in the conditions of post-COVID reality” at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

However, the problem of hunger is still relevant in the world, and the pandemic has exacerbated it. “By 2030, an ambitious goal has been set to eliminate hunger as a phenomenon. To do this, over the remaining ten years, we need to reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 70 million people annually. At the current pace, this is unattainable,” he said.

At the initiative of FAO, a food systems summit will be held in September as part of the UN High-Level Week. “This will be a kind of quantum leap in understanding the development paradigm of the most important sector of the economy, which is the world's largest employer — every fourth working person works in the agricultural sector, and in developing countries the share of people employed in agriculture reaches 60-70%,” Kobyakov stressed.

Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said that Russian agriculture, as well as the food and processing industry, withstood the pandemic, despite the change in global supply chains and many business conditions. “Not only did we not experience food shortages, but we also increased exports to $30.5 billion,” she stressed.

Abramchenko identified several trends that are worth paying attention to in the post-COVID world. There was a reduction in supply and production due to the introduction of new sanitary rules, a decrease in the number of seasonal workers. As a result, there is a rush demand, which is still observed, including for grain, oilseeds, vegetable oil, sugar, and cattle meat. This trend, in her opinion, will continue. “An additional negative factor was the drought in Latin America and the invasion of pests in Africa,” Abramchenko said.

Behavioral habits have also changed: people began to cook at home and order food, which led to an increase in the share of the delivery segment. “A lot of people went to work in this segment, as they lost their main source of income,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted. She also drew attention to the trend towards healthy eating. “Another trend is vulnerability. We suddenly felt that we were dependent on imported seeds, plant protection products, genetic material,” Abramchenko said, adding that many states are even more seriously thinking about the problem of import substitution.

All these trends have outlined the main vectors for the further development of the agricultural industry. The first is total digitalization, which will both robotize many production processes and ensure product traceability. Smart agriculture is the future, and it is necessary to invest in them, Abramchenko is sure. The second vector is total sanitary and veterinary safety. “We have learned to quickly respond to the emergence of new strains of the virus, to produce the necessary protective equipment, test systems and vaccines,” she said. The third direction is accelerated scientific and technological development, in which, according to Abramchenko, intensive work is now underway. Another important vector is the development of the production of alternative types of protein.

Digitalization will accelerate the recovery of agriculture after the COVID-19 crisis

The moderator of the session, managing partner of Rethink Food NYC Inc Bradley George Jakeman admitted that his diet is already 80% plant-based meat. Yevgeny Lyashenko, General Director of Efko Group, shared his experience in developing the production of such products. The oilseeds processed by the enterprise are a source of not only oil, but also protein. This is how the idea to produce plant-based meat was born. The production of this product can have a positive impact on the environment, Lyashenko is sure. “Production of plant-based meat requires 14 times less land, ten times less water, and leaves a carbon footprint ten times smaller than the production of conventional meat,” he said. In addition, this product can help improve people's health, because artificial meat does not contain antibiotics and viruses.