Russian farmers are getting poorer, fields are being sown with counterfeit material (VIDEO)

The share of counterfeit or unauthorized imported goods necessary for farmers’ work has increased in Russia by several percent in a year. Agricultural producers are getting poorer and are trying to save money by buying fakes.

After the introduction of sanctions, the market for key components of production in the agricultural sector was flooded with counterfeit and fake products, experts interviewed by Forbes said. Unscrupulous manufacturers are trying to make money by saving on registration costs, marketing, and quality production; consumers are also trying to save money by buying products from non-official sellers, says Mikhail Danilov, CEO of AO Firma Avgust.

The abundance of counterfeit seeds, feed additives and plant protection products in recent times is due to the low cost of counterfeit goods compared to the originals, and the lack of proper comprehensive quality control on the part of manufacturers, agrees Senator and member of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management Olga Epifanova.

“The problem of counterfeiting is also largely connected to the reduction of imports and the conservatism of farmers who prefer to use, for example, familiar foreign seed material and take risks to purchase it,” believes Mark Gekht, managing partner of the breeding and seed company RUSED.

According to experts from the National Seed Alliance (NSA) and the National Association of Corn and Oilseed Producers (NAPSC&O), over the past 15 years, the volume of counterfeit products has been significantly reduced — the share of seeds of unknown origin was no more than 10%. “However, this season, there has been an increase in the volume of counterfeit seeds, which is associated with a decrease in the profitability of agricultural producers and, accordingly, an increase in demand for cheaper seeds. Today, the share of counterfeit products has increased to 15%,” says Igor Lobach, Chairman of the NSA Council.

“About 10-15% of the volumes of seeds supplied to the market are counterfeit,” notes Andrey Podlesny, head of seed sales at Shchyolkovo Agrokhim. Although, he adds, it is quite difficult to give an assessment, since no one keeps official records of such products.

The number of cases of counterfeit products being sold on the seed market is growing, agrees Mark Gekht, managing partner of the breeding and seed company RUSED. For example, the share of counterfeit products in sunflower is estimated at 7-12%, in corn – 10-15%, but seeds of other crops are also counterfeited. “There are 2.7 million hectares under corn in the country. The need for seed material is regarding 81,000 tons, last year 18,000 tons of imported seeds were brought in and 37,500 tons of domestic ones were used. Another part is foreign-bred seeds produced in our country. The estimate of 10,000-12,000 tons of counterfeit products for corn alone is quite objective,” he calculates.