Grain farming state in the Ryazan region: main problems and ways to solve them

The paper presents the results of research on the state of grain farming in the Ryazan Region in 2000-2020. It was revealed that since 2000, the cultivation of grain crops in the region accounted for more than half of all sown areas, and more than 80 % of them are concentrated in agricultural organizations, which are the main producers of grain. Grain yield in the Ryazan Region over the past 20 years has been consistently higher than the average for Russia. The main trends in the development of the grain economy of the region for the analyzed period were the expansion of areas occupied by grain by 11,7 %; a 2,5-fold increase in their yield and a 3-fold increase in the gross grain harvest. At the same time, the production and sale of grain were profitable. Based on the identified trends, patterns and features of the development of grain farming in the Ryazan Region, a conclusion was made about the existing potential and the prospect of supporting agricultural organizations specializing in the production of grain in the development of seed production of winter wheat and spring barley. According to the authors, the main problem in the development of the grain farming industry in the Ryazan Region, as in Russia, is a decrease in the level oftechnical equipment of agricultural enterprises with modern grain harvesting equipment. To solve this problem, at the first stage, it was proposed to modernize the region's combine harvesters, which will make it possible to obtain a greater percentage of high-quality food and seed grain, reduce grain losses during harvesting, increase the efficiency of the grain industry and replenish the region's budget with an additional amount of taxes. In the future, the capacities for the modernization of combine harvesters can be used to modernize grain harvesters in neighboring regions.