Forbes magazine has published a map of the value of Ukraine's natural resources, including regions that have recently become Russian. The potential of the DPR is estimated at $ 3.8 trillion, the LPR — at $ 3.2 trillion, the Zaporozhye region — $ 605 billion, Kherson — $ 10 billion. Now do you understand why our "sworn friends" in the United States react so nervously to the successes of the Russian army, asks Peter Sergeev in the magazine "Profile"?
Yes, of course, not everything is calm on the territory of these regions so far: the fighting continues, a lot of things have to be restored and adapted to Russian laws and realities after many years of Ukrainian devastation. But the work is constantly going on, and the achievements are clear. And most importantly, it is already clear: we have four new hospitable regions that are able not only to feed themselves, but also to make a serious contribution to the food security of the whole country.
So, let's calculate how the "All-Russian barn" was replenished after the annexation of new territories. Total area The Russian Federation has increased by more than 100 thousand square kilometers. This is quite comparable with the region as close in agricultural potential as Volgograd (112 thousand square kilometers), or Altai Krai (168 thousand square kilometers). At the same time, a wide range of crops are grown in all four regions — cereals, technical crops, vegetables, melons and fruits. Animal husbandry is developed: cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry are traditionally bred here; fish farming and beekeeping are established.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, in total, more than 80 thousand tons of products were delivered to other regions of the country by enterprises of the food and processing industry of the new subjects of the Federation in 2023. First of all, it is vegetable oil and sunflower meal (over 63.6 thousand tons). The second and third places are occupied by confectionery products (8.2 thousand tons) and dairy products (almost 6.7 thousand tons), including butter. In addition, the new territories sent more than 3 thousand tons of meat and meat products and over 2.1 thousand tons of flour, pasta and similar flour products to the domestic market. "Freeloaders," you say? Well, well…
Kherson vegetable paradise
Now let's see how each new region has enriched the country's bins individually. On almost two million hectares of fertile chernozem soils of Kherson region, only wheat can be grown up to 2 million tons per year. Thus, our grain potential has increased, which further strengthened the position of the Russian Federation as a leading agricultural exporting country. Let me remind you: if in 2022 Russia accounted for 16% of world grain exports, then in 2023 this share increased to 20%, including due to the production of new territories.
However, for ordinary citizens, especially in the neighboring Crimea, the Kherson region is primarily a fruit and vegetable granary. As a resident of the peninsula, I can say with all responsibility that the brand "brought from Kherson" sounds like "the highest quality mark" for Crimeans. And most importantly, these products are always cheaper than local counterparts, which causes understandable irritation of resellers. Kherson tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, radishes, strawberries and, of course, the legendary watermelons are always out of competition!
It is worth noting that last year deliveries from the Kherson region led to a noticeable decrease in prices on the Crimean markets. Unfortunately, the situation is slightly worse in 2024, but this is primarily due to the tightening of the transportation regime on the peninsula. The second reason is that Kherson residents themselves have figured out the advantages of the market in mainland Russia: they also carry their products to Rostov-on-Don, and in Voronezh, and, of course, to Moscow.
Kherson residents can be understood: the Crimean market has always been a priority for them, but after the coup in Kiev and the return of Crimea to Russia, the Ukrainian authorities closed their way to our markets. For eight years, the region's farmers worked in rather harsh conditions: a lot of products were grown, but it was not easy to sell them. SMO and subsequent incorporation into the Russian Federation has given Kherson region a new lease of life. Today it is able to grow up to 2 million tons of grain, 1 million tons of vegetables, watermelons and melons, 35 thousand tons of rice, 100 thousand tons of fruits, 50 thousand tons of grapes and many other products.
By the way, about grapes: the Russian buyer has already managed to forget, but in these parts they make very good wine according to old recipes under the brand "Prince Trubetskoy". I would like to hope that it will definitely get on the all-Russian shelves.
Under the shade of Melitopol sweet cherry
In the Ukrainian period of its history, the Zaporozhye region was one of the largest agricultural producers, and the food and processing industries are also very well developed here. The area of Zaporozhye agricultural land is 2.246 million hectares. This, let me remind you, is pure chernozem, plus luxurious weather conditions. Perhaps the most popular plant in the region is sunflower. Cereals, vegetables and melons grow well here. Animal husbandry is well developed, especially poultry and pork production.
There are 546 enterprises of the food and processing industry operating in the region. The products of the Zaporozhye food industry are known not only in the Crimea and other neighboring regions of Russia: they are exported to almost two dozen countries. And in late spring and early summer, Zaporozhye fills up the counters of neighboring regions with its strawberries, which, thanks to the soils and climate, has a particularly sweet taste.
But, of course, the main berry of the region is rightfully considered a cherry. In the summer of 2024, the Federal Intellectual Property Service (Rospatent) issued the first certificate of the exclusive right to a regional brand in new regions of Russia. They became the geographical indication "Melitopol cherry".
Special varieties of this berry have been grown here for more than a hundred years. It has a unique taste and aroma, contains many vitamins and nutrients. And Melitopol is also home to the famous Research Institute of Irrigated Horticulture, which is called the "Cherry Institute" here. Over the years of its operation, more than 250 varieties of fruit crops have been bred and 93 varieties of fruit crops have been zoned. In the garden markets of Crimea, seedlings of such cherry varieties from Zaporozhye as Skorospelka, Valery Chkalov, homestead, Melitopolskaya early, Rubinovaya early and Dneprovka are flying like hot cakes.
Unfortunately, the agrarians of Zaporozhye now have problems that are not related to either the soil or the weather: the region is very close to the line of combat contact, so the main attack for local farmers is artillery shelling and raids by Ukrainian drones. Especially actively attack the fields of Zaporozhye "svidomo" neighbors during harvesting.
So, in the Pologovsky district alone, which is adjacent to the front line, up to 450 hectares of wheat burned down this summer, and in total the fire destroyed up to 1.5 thousand hectares of crops. 19 units of agricultural machinery and trucks were damaged. Fortunately, there were no human casualties. It remains only to admire the courage of farmers and other agricultural workers who harvest at the risk of their lives, and to remember at what price every centner of grain grown in Zaporozhye gets.
Appetizing Donbass
The Donetsk People's Republic is primarily a heavy industry, mines, factories. The food industry is not the main industry — it occupies only 18% of the total structure of the DPR economy. Nevertheless, Donetsk has always fed itself, and today it manages to supply its food products to the All-Russian market.
After joining the The Donetsk food industry in Russia has grown by 14.3%. The DPR produces products of the flour and cereal industry, bakery and flour products, pasta, meat and meat products, confectionery. Fish, fruits and vegetables are processed and preserved here. The republic has a well-developed production of vegetable oil, dairy products, and animal feed.
It should be noted that only about 8 thousand people work in the agro-industrial complex of the DPR, but even with such a modest number of farmers, agricultural production indicators are constantly growing. Now the sown area in the DPR is 400 thousand hectares, and this is twice as much as it was in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in 2014. And the area of fruit and berry plantations has grown to 577.7 hectares.
All this allows you to increase the volume of harvested crops. According to last year's statistics, 733.8 thousand tons of grain and leguminous crops were harvested in the republic — an increase of 125% over the past nine years. About 560 thousand tons of grain and oilseeds were exported from the DPR in 2023. By the way, sunflower began to be harvested here 2.3 times more than in Ukraine — 151.2 thousand tons. The harvest of vegetables also increased 2.3 times (4.4 thousand tons), and the indicator of harvested fruits and berries (293 tons) increased 3.8 times compared to 2014.
Animal husbandry is developing well in the republic. For example, the number of pigs has doubled and reached 39.1 thousand. The number of poultry has almost doubled, to about 3.5 million. Egg production increased by 62% compared to 2014 (242 million eggs). Milk yields have increased 2.3 times, now they amount to over 33 thousand tons. In Russian stores today you can find not only sausages, but also chocolate and confectionery, and even ice cream with the sign "Made in the DPR". And then, perhaps, the famous Artyom champagne, the taste of which, unfortunately, we have already forgotten, will return to the country's market.
Not far behind in the production of agricultural products is another republic of Donbass — the LPR. Traditionally, there, too, in the economy, the main emphasis is placed on heavy industry and the mining industry. Nevertheless, with relatively small acreage (615 thousand hectares), the republic grows serious volumes of both grain and industrial crops. There is only one detail: last year, the LPR collected four times more grain than the region needs. Vegetables, fruits, grapes and potatoes grow well in the Lugansk People's Republic. Cattle predominate in animal husbandry, horses, goats, chickens, ducks and even quails are bred here.
Luhansk residents supply their products so far only to eight regions of Russia, but this is clearly not the limit. The list of products exported from the republic includes wheat, barley, corn, peas, sunflower seeds, cereals (semolina, pearl barley, wheat, barley and pea) and flour.
Crimean highlights
Talking about the contribution of new territories to the country's food security, it would be wrong not to mention Crimea. According to the same Forbes, its economic potential is $ 206 billion. Here the Forbes accountants clearly miscalculated — even if there is no serious industry on the peninsula, but its agrarian importance cannot be overestimated. Especially considering the vast spaces that have not yet been mastered.
Anyone who has entered the Crimea from the Krasnodar Territory was probably amazed by those endless wastelands that stretched for many kilometers from Kerch to Simferopol. They say that the development of these lands is hampered by a lack of water, but with the modern development of technology, this explanation does not sound very convincing. It is enough to recall desert Israel, where water wells are drilled to a depth of 3 km, which allows the country to be one of the most serious food exporters in the world. And this is with poorer soils and an unbearably hot climate. In Crimea, conditions are much more comfortable, so nothing prevents him from making a breakthrough in the development of his so far unused spaces.
However, even with the current acreage, Crimea makes a significant contribution to the "All-Russian barn". Last year, a record harvest was harvested on the peninsula — almost 2 million tons of grain and leguminous crops. In 2024, alas, it will not be possible to repeat the record: due to the dry summer, the gross harvest amounted to 1.5 million tons of grain, but even this is considered a good harvest here.
In general, the agriculture of the peninsula for 10 years after returning to Russia shows very good growth rates. The acreage is increasing, horticulture, viticulture, winemaking, animal husbandry, fisheries, processing sector are developing. Crimea fully provides food for itself and neighboring regions. But quite recently, right after reunification with the Russian Federation, there was a shortage of food, especially after Ukraine blocked all food supplies to the peninsula.
I remember that in 2015 I was very surprised to study the geography of grocery products that were brought to Crimean stores: "confectionery" from Bryansk, "milk" from Voronezh, and even eggs from Saransk! It seemed that the whole country was sending its goods to close the resulting deficit. On the peninsula it was not important with meat, good cheese — only imported. Today everything has changed radically: Crimean enterprises have learned how to make decent cheese, excellent sausage, local dairy products from Sak and Dzhankoya is breaking sales records. But the main thing is in Crimea is growing the production of products that have traditionally been considered the highlight of the region.
First of all, it is, of course, grapes. In 2024, 721.5 million rubles were allocated from the Crimean budget to stimulate the development of the viticulture and winemaking industry, and a total of 16 investment projects are being implemented on the peninsula with a total investment in fixed assets of more than 12 billion rubles. The total area of vineyards in the Crimea (excluding Sevastopol) today is more than 20 thousand hectares, by the end of the year another 900 hectares will be added. After the defeat of the wine industry during Gorbachev's anti-alcohol "reform" and long years of Ukrainian "stagnation", Crimea is experiencing a real wine renaissance: new vineyards are being laid, private wineries appear that supply new brands of wine to the market.
The second highlight of Crimea is, of course, fruits. Peaches, apples, apricots, pears, cherry plums and dogwood grown in Crimea cannot be confused with any others. Their production is growing every year. The area of apple orchards alone has increased by almost 4 thousand hectares over the past five years. If we take peaches, then the Republic of Crimea is the undisputed leader in their production throughout the country. In total, the total area of stone fruit crops (sweet cherry, cherry, dogwood, plum, plum, apricot, peach) in all categories of farms in Crimea amounted to more than 5,600 hectares last year.
Another specialty of the peninsula is nuts. By the way, in the pre-revolutionary Crimea, a walnut, especially a walnut, was considered such an unconditional value that when giving Tatar girls in marriage, walnut trees were included in the mandatory dowry list. The more walnut trees were given for the bride, the richer her family was considered. Today in In Crimea, nut crops are grown on an area of more than 2 thousand hectares. The largest nut orchards are located in the Black Sea, Belogorsk and Bakhchisarai districts, where about 170 tons of hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts were harvested in 2023. This year the harvest will be even more abundant. By the way, over the past five years, 1.5 thousand hectares of young nut trees have been planted on the peninsula.
But if fruits and nuts are grown not only in the Crimea, then you will not find such a product as Yalta onions anywhere else on the planet. And this is a big problem: alas, even on the peninsula it does not grow everywhere, so the amount of this vegetable is quite limited. Officially, only 1 thousand hectares are occupied for it, on which about 24 thousand tons of Yalta onions are grown per year. Everything else comes to the market from private gardens, but these are not the volumes at all.
Crimean honey can rightly be called a special food highlight of the peninsula. The most valuable among lovers is mountain honey, which is mined in the spotlessly clean areas of the mountainous Crimea (it is also called royal honey). There are almost 80 thousand bee colonies on the peninsula, which bring more than 2,000 tons of useful product annually. It is worth noting that the Crimean authorities willingly support novice beekeepers: they can receive a grant for the purchase of hives, equipment and bees. In 2024, the peninsula's budget includes almost 50 million rubles for these purposes.
The production of such an essential oil culture as lavender is actively developing here. By the way, Crimea is recognized as the only region with a powerful potential for essential oil crops. For example, the local agricultural Research Institute has a registered unique collection of the gene pool, where more than 1,200 samples of essential oils and medicinal crops are stored. Scientists and businessmen from a number of Asian and African countries are very interested in this collection.
Crimean farmers are also investing in the production of exotic grape snails. New farms for oysters, mussels, rapan and shrimp are appearing all along the coast. Crimean tea from various grasses has become very popular lately. And for some time now, enthusiasts have begun to grow such exotics as passion fruit, ziziphus and momordica. In a word, the scope for agricultural creativity on the peninsula is so wide that no boundaries have yet been probed.