FRUIT AND BERRIES WORLD PRODUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Abstract

Horticulture is an important branch of agriculture with particular importance in some countries of the world. The production of fruits, berries and nuts is an important part of forming a high-grade food supply for the population in many countries, including the developing ones. Basing on the statistical data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN), the authors examined the change in the production volume of these products in the world as a whole for 1961-2018, as well as for the period 1992-2018 in some countries - twenty largest producers in 2018; and a number of trends were identified. In particular, it was noted that in 2018 the global gross harvest of fruits and berries increased by 4.34 times compared to 1961, while that of nuts - by 7.04 times. A deeper analysis in the context of states, which are the main producers of fruits, berries and nuts, carried out for 1922-2018, indicates that there is a change in the positions of these countries in the corresponding world ranking. The quantitative and qualitative changes we observe inevitably have a significant impact both on the volume of the world market in terms of production, and, consequently, the supply of fruit and berry products, and on the parameters of international trade in fruits, berries and nuts. Due to the fact that the Russian Federation is not among the countries - largest producers of fruit and berry products (in 2018 it was the 31st in the global rating for fruits and berries, and the 52nd for nuts), it occupies a very significant position in the world on its imports, especially on some of them. In connection with the policy of import substitution, deployed in response to sanctions from a number of Western states, some positive changes are also observed in the Russian gardening industry. However, imports in the resources of fruits and berries still amounted to 53.6% in 2018. Naturally, many types of fruit and berry products are economically inexpedient to cultivate on an industrial scale in the natural and climatic conditions of our country, but it is necessary to carry out scientifically grounded and systematic work to increase the production of relatively traditional for Russia fruit and berry plants in the large-scale commodity sector.