Russian agricultural official explains how to solve world hunger

Can cereals be substituted? Russia on the world market with supplies from other countries? Mr. Alexandr Korbut, Vice President of the Russian Grain Union discussed this issue in an interview with Sputnik.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the crisis in Ukraine could increase the number of hungry people in the world by 1.5 million. Mr. Alexandr Korbut said that the supply of grain from the Russian Federation can contribute to solving the problem of food security in the world, if Western sanctions do not prevent the flow of food. Russian exports.

“Geopolitical factors, according to FAO assessment, may lead to the fact that hunger will cover 13-15 million people by 2022. Hunger is a terrible problem, not normal in the 21st century. By the new harvest season, Russia could supply the world with more than 10 million tons of additional grain, plus about 30 million tons of exports a year. This total may provide some relief starvation. The question is whether people will give us the opportunity to trade in cereals normally,” Korbut said.

Russia is the world leader in grain exports, many countries depend on the reliability of the supply of agricultural products from Russia, the expert continued. He firmly believes that Western countries are trying to reduce imports of Russian goods, but it will take years to be able to replace Russian grain on the world market.

According to this expert, in theory, it is possible to replace Russia in the grain market, but to do so, it is necessary to sharply increase the cultivated area and production within 5 to 7 years. Specifically, in theory, America may give a sudden boost, but they are and won’t do. In other countries, there are no water resources and free land. For example, in Africa there is a lot of land, but there is little water in drought, and the construction of irrigation is very expensive and takes years.

“I do not see a way to replace Russia in the grain market at the moment, at least until 2030,” concludes Alexander Korbut.