Russia hopes to further increase chicken and egg production in 2023 and make its supply chain more independent from imported parts, Vladimir Fisinin, president of the Russian poultry union Rosptitsesoyuz, told local news agency Veterinary and told Life.

In 2022, Russia will produce 5.2 million tons of chicken by slaughter weight, an increase of 5.2% over the previous year. Last year, egg production increased by 2.8%, or 1 billion units to 45.8 billion units, Fishinin said.

In 2022, Russia will rank as the fourth largest poultry meat producer and seventh largest egg producer in the world, Fishinin said.

A key issue for the Russian poultry industry is efficacy and product safety. In view of this, one of the key goals for 2023 is the partial replacement of imported vaccines, said Fishinin, and the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and Veterinary Guard Rossel Khoznadzor will lead work in this area.

Russia’s demand for imported vaccines

Russia relies heavily on imported animal vaccines. In 2022, some market participants expressed concern about the huge losses the industry could suffer if sanctions disrupted supply.

Another important goal, explains Fisinin, is to reduce reliance on imported breeding products. In 2022, there will be a 34% decrease in hatch egg shipments and a 53% decrease in day-old chicks in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year, so there will be several changes in the sector. We have had positive results. We emphasize the importance of this dynamic. There are currently 60 hatcheries in Russia producing embryonated eggs.

In the breeding sector, the Russian broiler industry is counting on Smena-9, the first Russian hybrid that scientists have been working on for several years. Fisinin said his Smena breeding farm with new hybrid parental herds should start operating in March 2023. Fishinin said the Russian government has allocated 4.5 billion rubles ($70 million) to him to support the project.

“Our goal is to increase the share of domestic hybrids in Russian poultry production to 15% by 2025,” said Fishinin.

In 2022, Russia exported 336,000 tonnes of poultry meat, 24% more than during the previous year. Fishinin said Russian poultry farmers expect further growth in poultry meat and egg exports in 2023. “Our goal is to increase the share of domestic hybrids in Russian poultry production to 15% by 2025.”