VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
The Rostov Region is a major agricultural area of the Russian Federation. Its rural population amounts to 1.45 million people. More than 2,000 agricultural entities, over 13,500 farms, 2,000 individual entrepreneurs and more than 540,000 private farms are engaged in agribusiness.
The Rostov Region has 8.5 million hectares of agricultural land, with 5.8 million hectares of arable land, out of which 241,000 hectares are irrigated. The Rostov Region accounts for 3.9% of the total agricultural land in the Russian Federation. The region is tenth among Russian regions in terms of the fertility of arable land. Despite recurrent droughts, the region’s soil and climatic conditions are favourable for agricultural production. The Rostov Region provides about 20% of the agricultural produce in the Southern Federal District.
Plant cultivation, with the main role played by growing grains, supplies more than 60% of the region’s gross agricultural produce. Grain crops occupy about 60% of planted areas. Winter wheat is the core culture. Spring barley, corn, millet, rice, buckwheat, pea and soybeans are also widespread. Sunflower is the basic industrial crop. The annual yield of grain crops makes up five to six million tonnes on average and the sunflower harvest produces up to 1.5 million tonnes.
The Rostov Region supplies grain and sunflower seed oil to the northern regions and industrial centres of the country. In addition, it is a major supplier of agricultural produce and processed products to foreign markets. Grain exports amount to over four million tonnes a year, exported sunflower seed oil exceeds 300,000 tonnes.
The food and processing industry rank first in the manufacturing sector, its output amounting to over 26% of the total industrial production. About 2,000 processing facilities with different forms of ownership are operating in the region, and more than 42,000 people are employed in food production.
