Comparative assessment of the development of sugar beet and grain product subcomplexes in Russia

The article examines the features of the development of the grain and sugar beet subcomplexes and provides their comparative assessment. Agriculture in Russia is one of the key areas of the economy, and it has important social and strategic importance. In the crop field, grain farming remains central – the grain wedge accounts for more than half of all acreage. Sugar beet remains the second key crop production area in Russia, as it is the only available type of raw material for sugar production in the country's natural and climatic conditions. Although beet sugar is inferior in a number of parameters to cane sugar, the possibilities of efficient and relatively cheap cultivation of sugar beet determine the development of this area. The study compares the main indicators of the development of the sugar beet and grain product subcomplex in Russia in the period 2020-2024. In the course of the work, it was found that the considered food subcomplexes and the crops grown in them have different trends and development features related to both internal and external factors. Sugar beet crops and gross yields are more stable in dynamics and are growing compared to grain crops, where only in 2022 there was a high efficiency of crop cultivation, and in subsequent years there was a decrease. The volume of mineral fertilizers applied to crops of both grain and sugar beet is growing per unit of crops, but this does not have a direct impact on yield and gross harvest, which is confirmed by the dynamics of the data series.