Investments and state support of agriculture in the Far Eastern Federal District
Successful development of agriculture depends primarily on the amount of investment and government support. In the pre-reform period, due to the large investment of public funds, agriculture in the Far Eastern Federal District developed relatively successfully, and agricultural production increased. In the 1990s, until 2006, as a result of inadequate state policy and sharp reduction of investment, the industry was dominated not by major agricultural producers that have modern equipment, but by rural and urban dwellers with their small agricultural households; the situation in agriculture has deteriorated sharply, the production of major agricultural commodities declined in 2-3 or more times. Later on, with the adoption of several laws and a slight increase in the funding, the situation in agriculture somewhat improved, the production of several major agricultural products increased. However, many problems remain unsolved, and the volume of agricultural production has not reached the level of 1990. It is necessary to move from the acknowledgement of the necessity of priority development of the industry to real actions aimed to change agricultural policy, to establish actual priority in the development of agriculture, to carry out the comprehensive technological transformation of agricultural production and modernization of social and living conditions in rural areas. It is necessary to increase direct budget support to the domestic agro-industrial complex, which in Russia is lower than in the EU countries and in the USA. It is necessary to extend the activities related to social development in rural areas and set concrete goals in this respect. It is important to create the most favourable conditions for domestic producers of agricultural products and foodstuffs. It is necessary to take measures to “free” the initial agricultural product from the exorbitant and unreasonable “price markups” of numerous intermediaries. It is necessary to adopt a full-fledged directly applicable federal law on agriculture.