MINSK, 29 April (BelTA) – Plans are in place to harvest over 8 million tonnes of grain in Belarus in 2020, the press service of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry told BelTA.
This year Belarusian agricultural enterprises and individual farmers are expected to secure an output growth rate of 105.4%. The output growth rate of the crop farming branch is expected to go as high as 107.7%. Belarus intends to harvest at least 8.1 million tonnes of grain, 4.9 million tonnes of sugar beet, 0.6 million tonnes of colza oilseeds, 1.1 million tonnes of potatoes, 55,000 tonnes of flax fiber, 624,000 tonnes of vegetables, 170,000 tonnes of fruits and berries, and 9.2 million tonnes of grass fodder.
As of 29 April as much as 809,000 hectares (94.1% of the targeted area) was sown with early spring cereals and leguminous crops (excluding corn, buckwheat, and millet). Work was virtually finished in all the regions – Brest Oblast, Gomel Oblast, Mogilev Oblast, Minsk Oblast, and Grodno Oblast. As much as 71.7% of the targeted area was sown with these crops in Vitebsk Oblast. The total area under these crops in Belarus this year will be 860,900 hectares.
Belarusian agricultural enterprises and individual farmers continue sowing linen flax (47,100ha or 93.5% of the targeted area so far), sugar beet (84,800ha and 92.7%), potatoes (11,200ha or 51.7%), vegetables (2,620ha or 58.3%), corn (487,600ha or 43.1%), and spring colza (39,700ha or 76%). Spring crops have already been sown on an area of over 1.7 million hectares (66.7%) so far.