Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko urges farmers to maintain momentum in field works
KAMENETS DISTRICT, 1 August (BelTA) – Agricultural workers should not slow down after harvesting grain crops, because there is still a huge chunk of agricultural works ahead that must be completed in time, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told farmers during a working trip to Kamenets District, Brest Oblast, BelTA has learned.
As the president was told, harvest prospects remain good for many crops despite the drought. Corn and sugar beets are expected to yield better than last year. Potato fields are also in good condition.
“Those who stick to technology do not encounter problems,” Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Vladimir Grakun noted.
“If technology is not observed, planting does not make much sense. What is the purpose of sowing if crops yield 15-20 centners per hectare? In this case we spend more than we get,” the head of state emphasized.
“If people work hard and comply with technology, they can count on our help,” he added.
As far as technology is concerned, things are good by and large in Brest Oblast, Grodno Oblast and part of Minsk Oblast. “We have to strive towards this. We can’t do without technology,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
He demanded to improve the situation in Vitebsk Oblast. It makes sense to plant more early crops there due to the region’s climatic conditions. Such crops include winter barley, rapeseed and a number of others.
“This is my toughest demand - to sow early crops in the northern regions in order to start harvesting earlier. Let’s free up fields and sow winter crops earlier,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The head of state was also briefed on the state of grain harvesting in Brest Oblast. The region has nearly reached the midpoint of the harvesting works, and the yield is comparable to last year’s. The results shown by local agricultural workers suggest that the decision to expand the area under winter rapeseed and barley was absolutely right.
Aleksandr Lukashenko described winter rapeseed as “food, fodder and money-making crop”. In other words, this is a raw material for rapeseed oil and animal feed, and a good export item. Separately, the president asked whether all rapeseed is processed inside the country or some of it is exported as a raw material. He was assured that everything is processed domestically.
Winter barley also yields well. The president pays close attention to this crop, he half-jokingly calls it “a political party crop”. “The yield was great last year. We will put more effort into it,” said Brest Oblast Governor Yuri Shuleiko.
He went on saying that over the past two years a solid material and technical infrastructure has been created in the region; the profit is used to buy new combines and repair old ones.
Representatives of Brest Oblast gifted a loaf of bread to the president. It was the first loaf made of this season’s crops.
A separate discussion touched upon the state of affairs at the Belovezhskoye company. The enterprise performs well, and is constantly expanding due to the incorporation of neighboring agricultural companies. As a result, the profitability and efficiency of these companies increased. On the other hand, even the available lands are not enough to fully meet the demand for animal feed at the Belovezhskoye company.
Aleksandr Lukashenko visited a robotic dairy complex at Belovezhskoye where he talked about the livestock farming technology used at the company. This topic was earlier raised during the president’s recent working trips and the conference call. Earlier, Aleksandr Lukashenko gave an instruction to choose the best option to build new dairy complexes and renovate old farms.
The head of state inspected the fields planted to wheat and rapeseed. He urged to consider a wider use of domestic seeds instead of imported ones. This is also a task for Belarusian scientists.
Addressing employees of the enterprise and residents of the agricultural town of Belovezhsky, Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked them for their work. “Now this is the country’s third biggest agricultural company in terms of area. It has more than 38,000 hectares of land. But about 20% of animal feed that you use to feed cattle has to be bought. You need to strive to become self-sufficient in animal feed. Generally speaking, you are doing a great job. I rarely praise people, but you fully deserve the praise. Thank you very much for your work. Our peasants are strong people,” he said.
Speaking about the reasons for this working trip, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he wanted to see how people work in the countryside in Western Belarus. “They work well. They are doing a great job. Brest Oblast has reached a good level of performance. There is still room for improvement. The same is about Grodno Oblast. Yet, the performance of Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast is quite decent,” the head of state concluded.
He noted that this year the drought has had its toll on agriculture, especially in the eastern and central regions of the country. “Some areas in Eastern and Central Belarus dried up so much that they were scary to look at. When I drove [past the fields] to Minsk to work, I tried to look away,” the president said.
Rainy weather has recently set in, but we are pressed for time as far as harvesting is concerned. “We haven’t finished harvesting and we have to proceed to grass fodder. And we need to start planting soon, literally from day to day. Therefore, we can’t slow down in any case,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
The head of state was told about plans to ramp up production of finished products at Belovezhskoye and to build a sausage workshop. However, to do this, the existing energy system has to be renovated. The renovation project is estimated at Br16 million. During the conversation with local residents, the president was asked to consider allocating funds for the project.
Aleksandr Lukashenko promised that the government, including the governor, would deal with this issue. “We will think of ways to help you. But I believe that we can give you electricity. This is what the nuclear power plant is for. We have an excess of electricity. But, of course, we need to deal with logistics issues, lay networks and build another substation,” he said.
At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that the country has spare meat processing capacity. Thus, meat processing facilities should be fully loaded.
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