SMOLEVICHI DISTRICT, 16 August (BelTA) – Agriculture needs iron discipline, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he inspected the selection and seed complex of the Scientific and Practical Center for Arable Farming of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB), BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that for a high harvest it is important to observe the technologies in the strictest manner. In some places this is still not done, including because of the negligent attitude to the results of common labor. He noted that farmers treat their grain differently. "They treat it differently. They abide by technology. They are in the field working all the time. Meanwhile managers of state-held agricultural companies hold staff meetings and consider their job done," the head of state said.
"We need dictatorship. And we have it. Let's turn it on,” the president put it figuratively. “Let's turn on the administrative resource and make people work properly. It's time to start working really hard."
In the fields of the scientific and practical center, the conversation was about the cultivation of legumes. For example, lupine is a crop rich in protein, which is extremely important as part of the feed for animal husbandry. Aleksandr Lukashenko inquired scientists and officials about the work and prospects in this direction. Moreover, it is also a matter of import substitution.
Another fodder crop is alfalfa. The head of state was briefed about its cultivation and use. Soybeans in Belarus are practically not cultivated, but farmers have an eye on it.
Alexander Lukashenko listened carefully to the reports on the advantages of these and other crops, instructing to test the suggested approaches in practice in the presidential experimental fields next year.
"We must try and see. If we see that it works, we will implement it faster," the head of state emphasized.