PRUZHANY DISTRICT, 1 August (BelTA) – More bountiful harvest of cereals is expected in Belarus this year in comparison with the previous one. Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko made the relevant statement during a ceremony held to honor Brest Oblast farmers for passing the 1 million tonnes of grain milestone, BelTA has learned.
Yuri Shuleiko said: “The country expects a record-high harvest. It is more significant than last year’s. We understand we will get over 1 million tonnes of extra grain. It is very important today.” He stressed that a lot of factors influence the formation of the harvest, including personnel training, machines, equipment, and vehicles and their maintenance, and the organization of the harvesting work itself.
“The republic has prepared very well this year. It is necessary to understand that preparations were completed two weeks sooner than usual because the crops had matured faster due to weather conditions,” the deputy prime minister noted. He pointed out that a significant renovation of the vehicle fleet was completed in the last few years and many state-run agricultural enterprises received new harvesters. The availability of more up-to-date machines and vehicles with greater performance will allow completing the harvesting campaign faster.
“Good weather has settled in. We would like to make a certain leap in order to secure at least 80% of the area to be harvested by the end of this week, by the beginning or the middle of the next week so that we could make preparations for sowing winter crops later on,” Yuri Shuleiko stressed. In particular, preparations for sowing winter rapeseed are in full swing. Agrarians are tilling the soil and applying fertilizers. Forage harvesting continues.
“We expect the projected yield of corn. A good yield. Beet root is maturing. We should also gather in at least 5 million tonnes that we set out to harvest,” the official added.
Yuri Shuleiko congratulated Brest Oblast farmers on threshing 1 million tonnes of grain and thanked them for smooth work. Chairman of the Legislation and State Construction Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, the head of state’s plenipotentiary for Brest Oblast Mikhail Rusy also took part in the ceremony held to honor the farmers.
