DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTION OF LEGUMINOUS CROPS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Sown areas of leguminous crops in the country require not only expansion, but also their rational placement according to biological characteristics, to complex of natural and climatic factors and to possibilities of use for food, fodder and industrial purposes. So in the Central Federal District the leading positions are occupied by peas, in the Privolzhsky Federal District, the chickpea and lentil crops prevail, in the Southern and North-Caucasian FD - chickpea and pea, and in the Siberian FD - pea, vetch and lentils. The Far Eastern Federal District traditionally specializes in soybean cultivation. From a rather large variety of leguminous crops, such crops as beans, fodder beans and lathyrus are not widely used at present. Their sown areas remain insignificant, despite ever increasing demand and market demand. The value of leguminous crops is not limited to high protein content in grain, increased soil fertility due to their enrichment with available forms of nitrogen, thanks to the activity of nodule bacteria, but is also associated with the organic crop production. The latter is of great importance, especially at the present stage, when most European countries use rather widely the products of organic farming and the sown areas under them are steadily growing. Obtaining environmentally friendly products, according to standard requirements, should exclude the use of mineral fertilizers, chemical means of protection against weeds and pests, stimulants based on synthetic materials and much more. In this regard, their technology must significantly change, which will require the development of a plant vegetation management system, the creation of such varieties that have most realized the genetic potential, have not reduced resistance to pests and diseases, preserved the main quality indicators of products and their gross collections at the level of modern varieties of intensive type. All of the above will allow to preserve and increase the country's export potential not only due to the sale of grain of wheat, barley, corn, but also leguminous crops, the need for which is increasing every year.