Now in Russia both entrepreneurs and individuals can pick mushrooms, berries and herbs. For business, this direction is less popular, since for this you need to rent land. Rosleskhoz is developing a new mechanism – issuing collection quotas, but there are no exact dates for its introduction yet. Therefore, most of the berries, mushrooms and herbs in the forests are harvested by the villagers for themselves and for sale. This activity is absolutely legal and non-taxable.
As Aleksey Chekunkov, head of the Ministry of Development of the Far East, said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the possibility of organizing berry picking at a qualitatively new level is currently being discussed with Yakutia , that is to say the creation of centers for the collection of wild plants and refrigerators where the population could return the products.
“In Soviet times, for example, there was the Potrebsoyuz cooperation. We have been working on this project for more than a year, various initiators came to us, but the process was hampered by the proximity to the main market. Because that if you organize this, then you have to, for example, build a new warehouse, and this is a loan,” Chekunkov said.
The head of the ministry noted that this work is intensifying in order to maximize the monetization of these opportunities in the Far East and give people additional revenue and tax for the budget.
“The number one task for the state is to speed up border control procedures. Now it is a pain in an acute phase. I would say that there are a lot of complaints from our side and from the Chinese side that we will not be able to export goods if we will be at our border, excuse me, choke up. Because the same crab or the same fresh berry cannot wait for weeks until they are studied from top to bottom by X-rays and other invasive methods. Here we need to find a balance between risk and income for the state. A corresponding meeting is planned in the Government of the Russian Federation. We will simplify these procedures, ” Chekunkov said.
China is interested in pine nuts, various roots, as well as berry products: jam, jam and snacks
Deliveries of a number of products to China have already been simplified, at the end of May in Beijing, the head of the Rosselkhoznadzor, Sergei Dankvert, and the head of the Main Customs Administration of the PRC, Yu Jianhua, signed agreements protocols expanding bilateral trade cooperation between countries. This document made it possible to start exporting a number of plants from Russia to China.
Infographic “RG” / Alexander Chistov / Svetlana Zadera
As the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Dikorosy Association, Alexander Deev, who participated in a trade mission to China, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta, they are now interested in buying healthy food products and herbs medicines made in Russia.
“In addition, ready-made products are interesting, packed in high-quality retail packaging with an indication of Russian production. High demand for pine nuts, berry products: jams, jams , snacks. For medicinal and technical raw materials, interest in buying underground parts: boots, astragalus, ash, rhodiola, peony,” Deev said.
As noted by the president of the association, in order to organize the supply of fresh berries from China, it is necessary to freeze them immediately after picking or store them in a winter road until arrival of winter, as they do in Yakutia.
“Today, the export of wild plant products to China faces a number of serious administrative hurdles, ranging from a complete ban on exports, licensing, to the mandatory availability of confirmation of origin of the raw materials and a thorough analysis of its chemical composition Sufficiently strict phytosanitary requirements for the raw materials on both sides Today, for example, it takes not months, but years to draw up a rental contract for harvesting nuts and issuing a license for its export.
At the same time, wild berries grown on a plantation can be controlled and meet strict requirements. Scientists are already conducting such experiments, as fewer people are willing to go berry picking in the forest and the demand for products is increasing.
“Through planting, we obtain a given volume of berries of a certain quality. This allows us to negotiate with the end consumer for supplies, because our harvest is predictable, unlike harvesting in the forest”, explains the head of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Man-Made Forests of the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after MV Lomonosov Alexander Antonov.
Last year, scientists laid out a variety test plot, where 35 varieties and forms of forest-berry plants that grow in the forests of the Arkhangelsk region are presented: blueberries, blackberries, lingonberries, honeysuckle, red berries , princess. “The main task is to select the most promising form in order to propagate it over a large area. Two varieties of blueberries showed positive winter hardiness, more than 90% of the plants overwintered. Now let’s see the yield and we will recommend it for further propagation, “Antonov summarizes the work. According to the scientist, the variety testing site can become the beginning of the berry trade in the North.
Igor Grechin, director of Dallesproekt (the Far East branch of Roslesinfoorg), told RG that this year in the Far East we can expect an increase in collections and harvesting of wild plants by 10-15%, given the growing trend for environment friendly products. The Far East last year took second place in the collection of wild plants, second only to Siberia. Primorye is the second after the Tomsk region in terms of the harvest of forest products, while the region leads the country in the harvest of berries and fruits – 16.3 tons, the country’s second largest supplier of medicinal herbs – 74.7 tons, and wild mushrooms – about 40 tons.
“Now more and more companies are appearing on the Russian market that produce confectionery products (marmalades, candies), cosmetics and biologically active additives from wild plants,” the department noted.
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