OVERCOMING IMPORT DEPENDENCE OF RUSSIAN SEED PRODUCTION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Ivanova L.

The article notes that modern seed production is a large-scale high-tech industry characterized by a high level of integration between agriculture and the seed industry. This allows the combination of financial resources, information and human capital to implement expensive research projects. The article stresses that in Russia the transition to market-based economics has destroyed previous breeding and seed-production systems. By the late 2000's major institutions regulating market activities in this area were established, but Russia's seed market remained inefficient and heavily dependent on imports. It concludes by saying that in order to reduce dependence on imports it is necessary for Russia to consolidate its agriculture and seed sectors by encouraging mergers, acquisitions and other strategies to amass financial and other assets in order to shift Russia's seeds production onto a new technology base.

Keywords:import dependence, seed breeding system, seed market, resource accumulation, business consolidation, economic policy, technological sovereignty.