MOSCOW, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Agrarian Party will merge with the United Russia party, leaders of the two parties said Friday.

    "Problems of the agricultural sector have always been of priority importance for the United Russia," said Vyacheslav Volodin, secretary of the Presidium of the United Russia's General Council.

    Many key provisions of the Agrarian Party could be found in the program of the United Russia, he added.

    Vladimir Plotnikov, head of the Agrarian Party, said a final decision on the merger of the two parties would be made at the party's congresses and all members of the board had supported it.

    The Agrarian Party, founded in 1993, has 170,000 party members, while the United Russia, which gained 315 seats in the 450-seat State Duma in last December's elections, has a membership of about2 million.