Despite the fact that a sowing campaign is already underway in the regions that are leaders in the production of vegetables and berries (these are the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions), the shortage of migrants in agricultural work has not yet been eliminated. Representatives of three branch unions of the agro-industrial complex told Izvestia about this: potato, berry and fruit and vegetable.
According to the unions’ estimates, there are about 30 thousand people short of agricultural work. Initially, the deficit was estimated at 100 thousand workers, but the regions were able to attract most of them (about 70%) on their own, Mikhail Glushkov, director of the National Fruit and Vegetable Union, told Izvestia.
In the Berry Union, they said that already now many farms are abandoning plans to establish new plantings or are preparing much smaller areas than previously planned.
“First of all, this concerns the production of garden strawberries, since it requires the involvement of the maximum number of workers when harvesting,” Irina Koziy, general director of the Union of Berry Producers, told Izvestia.
The need of farms belonging to the Berry Union for foreign labor for the 2021 season is 2,400 people. According to the Union’s estimates, all farms in the berry industry need from 6 to 10 thousand foreign seasonal workers.
Read the details in the exclusive material from Izvestia:
Alone in the field: Russian farmers never received migrants