Russia is planning to boost production of fruit, including berries, in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus, FruitNews has reported.
According to Sergey Govorov, Russia’s first deputy prime minister and its minister of agriculture, the challenge in the next three years is to satisfy demand on the Russian market in order to minimise imports, with exports planned for the coming years.
In the future, Govorov said, berries and other fruits would be exported to markets in East Asia, the Gulf and the Caucasus.
In 2017, 1,700ha of intensive orchards were reportedly planted in the region. In 2018, production is forecast to increase by 35,000-37,000 tonnes to around 225,000-230,000 tonnes.
This year, total storage capacity is expected to increase by about a third to over 120,000 tonnes. In subsequent years, this capacity will grow by 22,000-27,000 tonnes, FruitNews reported.
