Scientists Talked About the Development of Organic Agriculture in Russia at the International United Congress in Italy

Associate Professor of the Faculty of Geography and Geoinformation Technologies Alexander Sheludkov and the leading researcher of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences Raisa Gracheva took part in the 1st International Joint Congress of the European Society for the Conservation of Soil (ESSC) and the European Society of Ecological Cycles (EURECYS) (November 10-14, Italy). The aim of the congress is to create a wide European network of interdisciplinary research on the interaction of man and nature.

Organic agriculture in Russia is a young industry that has been developing in our country for the last ten years and is currently represented by about 130 enterprises. In the report, the authors focused on the role that organic agriculture can potentially play in increasing the resilience of rural areas in Russia. The peculiarity of organic production is the complete rejection of synthetic fertilizers, feed, and pesticides in favor of organic fertilizers, crop rotation, and mechanical methods of weed control. This is a part of a broader movement to biologize agriculture to maximize the use of the natural potential for productivity and regeneration of natural landscapes, abandoning monocultures and reducing economic pressure on nature.

In addition to the obvious environmental impacts, organic farming has a number of positive socio-economic effects. As a rule, it comes to those areas from which industrial agriculture leaves due to less favorable natural and climatic conditions, remoteness from cities, and the urban labor market.

In Russia, one of the examples is the non-chernozem Yaroslavl region, where organic pasture animal husbandry is developing on abandoned collective farm fields. Thus, new jobs are created in remote rural areas and the traditional cultural landscape is preserved.

This research is part of the project of the Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center. The participation of the faculty teachers in the project contributes to the development of research areas of the faculty and opens up opportunities for collaboration and the implementation of joint projects in the future. The research results were also published in the 4th issue of the magazine "Regional Research of Russia" (December 2021).

Faculty members participate in international events, expanding knowledge about geography and the achievements of Russian scientists in the framework of HSE's research areas