Beetroot as an element of food security in the Russian Federation

Vegetables are essential plant-based foods in the human diet. A large proportion of the existing variety of vegetable crops is made up of beetroot crops, among which beetroot is of particular value. Beetroot is recognized as a strategically important vegetable crop in the Russian Federation, and therefore, within the framework of the import substitution program, the self-sufficiency of the domestic market in commercial products should be at least 90% of the population's needs, and in seeds – at least 75%. In fact, in the industrial sector of vegetable growing over the past ten years, there has been a reduction in the acreage under this crop, however, due to a systematic increase in yields, through the intro- duction of highly productive varieties and hybrids and optimization of the technological process, there has been an increase in gross yields. In the whole country, the self-sufficiency of marketable beetroot products, taking into account the volume of consumption, com- pared with other vegetable crops, is at a fairly high level. The production of beetroot seeds in Russia is in a critical situation and satisfies the market by no more than 20%, which makes domestic producers dependent on imports. In addition, despite the high cost, manufacturers prefer foreign hybrids, which poses a threat to the country's food security and contributes to a steady decline in their own production of commercial beet seeds. It is possible to achieve the necessary level of self-sufficiency in seed material not only for beetroots, but also for other vegetable crops, if we use the joint potential of domestic breeding science, Russian seed companies with their experience in global seed production areas and advanced vegetable farms. Within the framework of the Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Agriculture, public-private partnership projects have been launched, as a result of which it is planned to create and develop a competitive fund of original seed material of domestic varieties and hybrids of agricultural crops; the development of new varietal technologies that promote the introduction of breeding achievements in commercial production.

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