To date, potatoes of foreign varieties are grown in Russia, mainly imported from Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland. In this regard, the agency prepared a program "Development of potato selection and seed production in the Russian Federation", which provides for the breeding of Russian varieties and the acquisition of modern equipment for vegetable farmers. As Izvestia was told in the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture, the program provides for reducing the dependence of the domestic market on imported potatoes, not only by introducing new varieties, but also by increasing the annual volume of seeds of elite domestic varieties. The program is designed for 2017-2025 and requires more than 12 billion rubles. According to the head of the National Union of Producers of Vegetables Sergey Korolev, this amount is prohibitive for the Russian producers themselves, so they can not do without the help of the state. "The result of such investments will not necessarily be positive: you can engage in breeding and get a negative result, not having achieved the desired. Therefore, in the seed industry without the help of the state anywhere, "- said Korolyov.

He noted that the idea of ??

the Ministry of Agriculture came just in time, as there is currently no scientific and technical base in Russia and the necessary infrastructure for the production of domestic potato seeds. According to the State Commission for Testing and Preservation of Selection Achievements, last year Russian breeders of 12 new varieties of potatoes, nine more varieties were bred from January to August of this year. Whether it was possible to introduce any of them into production, it is not specified.