Full Answer
As non-agricultural sectors grew more rapidly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the share of agriculture in total GDP in Russia decreased from 14.3% in 1991 to 4% in 2011. The agricultural sector accounted for 6.71% of total employment in 2015.
The evolution of Russian agriculture since 1990 shows a significant change of resources and production from the formerly dominant corporate farms to the individual farming sector.
During 2004, peasant farms accounted for 14.4% of Russia's total grain production (up from 6.2% in 1997), 21.8% percent of sunflower seed (up from 10.8% five years earlier), and 10.1% of sugar beets (3.5% in 1997). Corporate farms produced the remainder of these crops, with hardly any contribution from the small household plots.
Russian agriculture today is characterized by three main types of farms. Two of these farm types – corporate farms and household plots – existed all through the Soviet period (the former are basically the successors of the Soviet collective (kolkhoz) and state (sovkhoz) farms).
Most of Russia's population live in the European part of the country on the Eastern European Plain, also known as the Western Russian Plain, or the Russian Plain, the most agriculturally productive land in Russia.
The West Siberian Plain, which is the world's largest, extends east from the Urals to the Yenisei River. Because the terrain and vegetation are relatively uniform in each of the natural zones, Russia presents an illusion of uniformity.
Physical geography. Most of the European Union is on the European continent. The only member state of the EU which is wholly outside of Europe is Cyprus, which is in Asia.
3.2 What are Russia's main physical regions? The Russian plain, West Siberian plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, the Yakutsk Basin, the Eastern Highlands, the central asian ranges.
The Russian landscape varies from desert to frozen coastline, tall mountains to giant marshes. Much of Russia is made up of rolling, treeless plains called steppes. Siberia, which occupies three-quarters of Russia, is dominated by sprawling pine forests called taigas.
EuropeAsiaRussia/Continent
Europe is the second-smallest continent. The name Europe, or Europa, is believed to be of Greek origin, as it is the name of a princess in Greek mythology. The name Europe may also come from combining the Greek roots eur- (wide) and -op (seeing) to form the phrase “wide-gazing.”
NumberNumberContinentsFive continentsAfricaEurasiaSix continentsAfricaEurasiaAfricaAsiaSeven continentsAfricaAsia1 more row
Just over 7% of the country's total land is arable, 60% of which is used for cropland and the remainder for pasture. Geopolitical analyses of climate change adaptation foresee large opportunities for Russian agriculture during the rest of the 21st century as Siberia's arability increases.
Russian agriculture today is characterized by three main types of farms. Two of these farm types – corporate farms and household plots – existed all through the Soviet period (the former are basically the successors of the Soviet collective (kolkhoz) and state (sovkhoz) farms).
Investments in fixed capital within the agricultural sector were US$10.17 billion in 2010, which is 3.3% of total investments in the national economy of Russia. Most investments occurred in corporate farming, where about 47.2% of the investments were allocated to production buildings and 36.4% in machinery and technological equipments. Financing of investments was shared by own financial means (49%) and by external means (51%).
Total federal transfers to agriculture fell from 10% to 4% of GDP from 1992 to 1993, and budgeted transfers for 1994 are about 5% of GDP. There has been improvement in the agricultural credit situation in Russia over the past five years – for some farms, at least – due largely to subsidies from the federal government.
The changes that began at the end of the 20th century have affected on agriculture. Agricultural production has been sharply reduced; and there was a significant reduction in arable land in a number of regions.
A combine in the Rostov Oblast. After the Soviet Union collectivised its agricultural sector during the Stalin years and until the 1980s, most agricultural land in Russia was in state ownership, and the transition to a market-oriented economy had to start with privatisation of land and farm assets.
Spring grain planting in European Russia usually begins in April and progresses from south to north. The "summer" crops—chiefly maize (corn) and sunflowers—are last to be sown, and planting approaches completion by late May or early June. The harvest of small grains (chiefly wheat and barley) moves from south to north and begins in late June in extreme southern Russia. Harvest operations are in full swing by early July and largely finished by mid-to-late August. Maize and sunflower harvest begins in September and continues through October. (View regional crop calendars.)