Fields across several Russian regions are reportedly facing a critical labor shortage, jeopardizing the harvesting of ripe fruits, berries, and vegetables. Agricultural enterprises are sounding the alarm as significant portions of their expected yield remain unpicked, leading to substantial financial losses and raising concerns about the stability of supply.
The core of the problem, according to industry experts and regional reports, lies in the sharp decline of available seasonal workers. Historically, this critical workforce has largely comprised labor migrants. However, recent changes in migration legislation are frequently cited as a primary barrier to their recruitment.
Igor Mukhanin, President of the Association of Gardeners of Russia, points specifically to new requirements mandating that migrant workers pass exams in Russian language and history to obtain work permits. He argues this requirement is fundamentally impractical for individuals coming for only two months of seasonal work. “What difference does it make? As long as they work,” Mukhanin commented, highlighting the practical needs of seasonal labor: follow a бригадир (foreman), know the basic tasks, and understand where facilities are. He recounted previous years where thousands of tons of apples, strawberries, and raspberries were lost due to insufficient hands. While farms maintain a small core team, the sheer volume of the harvest requires hundreds more workers than are currently available.
The situation is particularly dire in regions like the Tambov Oblast and across Central Russia, where even a good harvest year faces slow collection rates. Krasnodar Krai faces an even more severe challenge; local restrictions reportedly prohibited the hiring of labor migrants entirely this year, resulting in farm bankruptcies and a halt in new garden planting. Nikolay Shcherbakov, Director General of the Kuban Gardeners Union, underscores that farmers need large numbers of workers specifically for the short, intense harvesting period, not year-round staff, making the lack of external labor crippling.
Attempts to find alternative labor sources have proven difficult. Attracting students for agricultural work is being explored but is widely seen as insufficient to meet the demand scale. Some farms, including those with higher security profiles due to their clientele, are reportedly resorting to inviting anyone interested in picking, sometimes offering payment in produce. This method, while basic, highlights the extent of the labor deficit. As Andrei Tumanov, Chairman of the “Gardeners of Russia” organization, noted with a touch of dry observation, even facilities typically operating under strict security are resorting to methods straight out of a simpler time – effectively trading manual labor for baskets of fresh produce. This practice underscores that day laborers remain a universal, albeit currently scarce, tool for agricultural operations.
The labor crisis isn`t limited to just pickers. A deficit is also being felt in essential mid-level roles, including tractor drivers, mechanics, agronomists, and drivers, further complicating agricultural operations and threatening efficiency beyond mere harvesting.
Industry representatives maintain that a return to more practical and streamlined conditions for attracting seasonal migrant labor, perhaps through a quota system specifically tailored to the unique and time-sensitive needs of agriculture, is necessary to prevent future harvest losses and stabilize a vital sector of the economy.
