On November 13, 2025, Alexander Dvoinykh, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management, held a meeting on the topic: “On the application of digital technologies, robotics, and artificial intelligence technologies in the agro-food complex.”
The event was attended by senators of the Federation Council, representatives of relevant ministries and departments, large agricultural holdings, and industry and scientific communities.
The meeting was also attended by members of Rosagropromsoyuz: Yuri Kovalev, General Director of the National Union of Pig Breeders, and Ekaterina Luchkina, Director of the Association “Union of Meat Processors”.
Alexander Dvoinykh noted that there is a steady global trend of increasing use of robotic technologies in the agro-industrial complex. The use of drones, autonomous tractors, smart sensors, and automated irrigation systems significantly increases the efficiency of agricultural production, reduces labor costs, and optimizes resource use.
“Stimulating the development of robotic technologies in the agricultural sector is a priority for our state. Today, Russia has become one of the leaders in global rankings for the production and export of grain, meat, and vegetable oil, and this opens a window of technological opportunities in the agro-industrial complex,” emphasized the Committee chairman.
“Robotic and unmanned technologies can and should become a new technological standard for agricultural machinery,” the senator stated. According to him, this is primarily due to the modern challenges faced by the domestic agro-industrial complex: disruption of usual logistics chains, shortage of personnel in the agricultural sector, growing demand for food products, and others.
It was noted that Russian companies have actively joined the process of solving the problem of import substitution of agricultural machinery, including with the use of the latest digital technologies. Domestic developments using robots in the fields solve the following tasks: the possibility of developing new agricultural territories, including in hard-to-reach areas, reducing costs and increasing the profitability of agribusiness, ensuring accurate monitoring of soil conditions, crops, and livestock.
Thus, the head of the Federation Council Committee noted, the use of autopilot technologies and robotic agricultural machinery allows reducing harvesting times by up to 25%, direct crop losses by more than 10%; reducing fuel consumption by up to 5%, and increasing the daily output of a machine operator by up to 20%.
Anton Emelyanov, CEO of Cognitive, emphasized that Russia is currently on the threshold of a new technological wave in agriculture – the transition from mechanization to robotization. Autopilot technology is key to increasing productivity, sustainability, and independence of the agricultural sector. According to him, Cognitive is a Russian developer and manufacturer of autonomous driving systems for agricultural machinery, created on the basis of domestic software and hardware. “We have already proven the effectiveness of our solutions in practice: more than 30 regions of Russia use our systems in agricultural enterprises. In the context of sanctions pressure and the departure of Western suppliers, our solutions are not just an alternative, but a strategic technological independence for the agricultural sector,” he stressed.
As Anton Emelyanov said, combines with integrated AI-based autopilots can increase work efficiency by 30 percent. Currently, over 2,500 tractors and combines across Russia are equipped with this technology. “Moreover, artificial intelligence does not require internet to control them. Everything works autonomously,” he explained.
Yuri Kovalev spoke about the positive experience of import substitution in pig farming in the slaughter and deboning sections. For a long time, it was believed that the technological equipment used on these lines made the industry critically dependent on imports. “However, over time, solutions were found by domestic manufacturers, which significantly reduced both the number of personnel and the time for technological operations. In the future, the task comes down to building fully automatic farms, as the potential for production growth with existing technologies is practically exhausted,” he said.
Rosagropromsoyuz will continue to work with the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management in terms of informing the agro-industrial complex sectors about existing domestic solutions and developing proposals for legislative support for their active implementation.
The event was attended by senators of the Federation Council, representatives of relevant ministries and departments, large agricultural holdings, and industry and scientific communities.
The meeting was also attended by members of Rosagropromsoyuz: Yuri Kovalev, General Director of the National Union of Pig Breeders, and Ekaterina Luchkina, Director of the Association “Union of Meat Processors”.
Alexander Dvoinykh noted that there is a steady global trend of increasing use of robotic technologies in the agro-industrial complex. The use of drones, autonomous tractors, smart sensors, and automated irrigation systems significantly increases the efficiency of agricultural production, reduces labor costs, and optimizes resource use.
“Stimulating the development of robotic technologies in the agricultural sector is a priority for our state. Today, Russia has become one of the leaders in global rankings for the production and export of grain, meat, and vegetable oil, and this opens a window of technological opportunities in the agro-industrial complex,” emphasized the Committee chairman.
“Robotic and unmanned technologies can and should become a new technological standard for agricultural machinery,” the senator stated. According to him, this is primarily due to the modern challenges faced by the domestic agro-industrial complex: disruption of usual logistics chains, shortage of personnel in the agricultural sector, growing demand for food products, and others.
It was noted that Russian companies have actively joined the process of solving the problem of import substitution of agricultural machinery, including with the use of the latest digital technologies. Domestic developments using robots in the fields solve the following tasks: the possibility of developing new agricultural territories, including in hard-to-reach areas, reducing costs and increasing the profitability of agribusiness, ensuring accurate monitoring of soil conditions, crops, and livestock.
Thus, the head of the Federation Council Committee noted, the use of autopilot technologies and robotic agricultural machinery allows reducing harvesting times by up to 25%, direct crop losses by more than 10%; reducing fuel consumption by up to 5%, and increasing the daily output of a machine operator by up to 20%.
Anton Emelyanov, CEO of Cognitive, emphasized that Russia is currently on the threshold of a new technological wave in agriculture – the transition from mechanization to robotization. Autopilot technology is key to increasing productivity, sustainability, and independence of the agricultural sector. According to him, Cognitive is a Russian developer and manufacturer of autonomous driving systems for agricultural machinery, created on the basis of domestic software and hardware. “We have already proven the effectiveness of our solutions in practice: more than 30 regions of Russia use our systems in agricultural enterprises. In the context of sanctions pressure and the departure of Western suppliers, our solutions are not just an alternative, but a strategic technological independence for the agricultural sector,” he stressed.
As Anton Emelyanov said, combines with integrated AI-based autopilots can increase work efficiency by 30 percent. Currently, over 2,500 tractors and combines across Russia are equipped with this technology. “Moreover, artificial intelligence does not require internet to control them. Everything works autonomously,” he explained.
Yuri Kovalev spoke about the positive experience of import substitution in pig farming in the slaughter and deboning sections. For a long time, it was believed that the technological equipment used on these lines made the industry critically dependent on imports. “However, over time, solutions were found by domestic manufacturers, which significantly reduced both the number of personnel and the time for technological operations. In the future, the task comes down to building fully automatic farms, as the potential for production growth with existing technologies is practically exhausted,” he said.
Rosagropromsoyuz will continue to work with the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management in terms of informing the agro-industrial complex sectors about existing domestic solutions and developing proposals for legislative support for their active implementation.