Russia hoping to boost collaboration with India in agricultural research - Lut

NEW DELHI. Dec 4 (Interfax) - The partnership between Russia and India in the agricultural sector is built not only on mutual trade, but also on an expansion in research collaboration, Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said at a strategic session of the business forum in India on Thursday.

"We are not limiting ourselves to food exports [...] There are areas which are connected with science and research development. Here with our colleagues, we have discussed the possibility of organizing science and technology programs and research in the field of seed selection for crops that are common to both countries, livestock selection," she said.

"A common issue for us is the fertility of soil, which has deteriorated somewhat in both countries, and we need to keep an eye on it. Here we can see that we will be able to create a joint Russian-Indian program to improve the fertility of soil using mineral, biological and organic fertilizers, in order to preserve our principal means of production," Lut said.

Commenting on food imports from India, Lut noted several key areas. She said that India was one of the world's biggest producers and exporters of shrimp and that Russia had imported 20,000 tonnes of the product last year, of the 100,000 tonnes exported by India overall. "Of course, there is a lot of potential for growth. Plus, the demand for this product in Russia is growing," she said.

Lut also said that 115 Indian companies currently held rights to export fish and seafood to Russia, 65 of which supply shrimps.

She said that Russia was also interested in importing tropical fruits from India. "Each year, Russia imports practically 4 million tonnes of tropical fruits, and India is making up a small share of that at the moment. I have discussed opportunities for increasing imports with India's agriculture minister," she said.

She said that Russia was also interested in buying equipment from India for use in the food and manufacturing industry. "We have some shining examples of Indian businesses working on Russian territory to produce food items using Indian equipment. Recently, our food and manufacturing industry has been taking an active interest in this equipment, noting its high productivity and quality," Lut said.