Russia looks to Irish agribusiness for knowledge and new technologies
Minister of State Pat Breen has begun a two-day Enterprise Ireland trade visit to Moscow, Russia. Central to the itinerary is one of Russia’s largest agricultural trade fairs, Agrofarm, which has earned a reputation as the leading international exhibition for animal husbandry and animal breeding in Russia.
Five Irish companies will exhibit on the Enterprise Ireland stand at Agrofarm; Dairymaster; Lir Agri; Moocall; Sustainable Food Systems Ireland (SFSI) and Weatherby Scientific. They will pitch their products and services to decision-makers from the Russian agriculture sector, including the operators of farms. The largest farm in Russia is operated by Prodimex and is over 570,000 hectares – almost twice the size of County Clare.
The Russian Government is concentrating on increasing farm efficiency and rebuilding its agricultural infrastructure and as part of this response, has started looking to countries like Ireland for knowledge and new technologies to accelerate this process, opening up opportunities for innovative Irish agritech companies.
Bringing these client companies to Agrofarm is part of Enterprise Ireland’s Irish Advantage export promotion campaign, which aims to promote the advantages of sourcing suppliers from Ireland directly to buyers in key export markets.
During the trade visit, Minister Breen will witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Teagasc, SFSI and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), the All Russian Animal Husbandry Institute, and the Ministry of Agriculture of Tatarstan to establish a database of the genetics of cattle herds in Tatarstan.
The first phase of the agreement will commence in March 2018. The Irish partners involved are Teagasc, Sustainable Food Systems Ireland, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and the National Cattle Breeding Centre.
Welcoming the agreement, Minister Breen said: “This Memorandum of Understanding is the result of almost two years of negotiations between the Irish Government and the Ministry of Agriculture of Tatarstan. Ireland is proud of our expertise in the agriculture sector and as this project shows, we are very open to sharing the knowledge we have gained in the transformation of the genomics industry in Ireland with our international partners.”
Pictured above: Adrian McDaid, Irish Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Michael Savage and Alina Shteynbok of Lir Agri, Minister Pat Breen