Working trip to Smolevichi District, Minsk Oblast

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized the importance of a comprehensive approach to agricultural works during the harvesting period as he toured Smolevichi District, Minsk Oblast on 31 August.

As soon as he arrived at a field of the Ozeritsky-Agro company, Aleksandr Lukashenko said right away that it was not some special day.

The head of state emphasized that grain harvesting is just a part of the harvesting effort. “We have probably cleared only 25-30% of land,” he said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that harvesting is no longer ‘a battle for harvest’ in Belarus. The country has enough machinery and resources to do harvesting in time and in full.

“The climate has changed. We are trying to increase our corn yield as much as possible, just like the entire world is doing, including the United States, the world’s biggest corn producer. After we refocused on corn, the land under grain crops shrank by a quarter. Therefore, it is no longer a battle. The yield reached about 7 million tonnes [grain and leguminous crops excluding corn]. It is not a problem for Belarus taking into consideration the machinery it has,” the head of state said.

The President believes that it is very important to maintain momentum. He emphasized the importance of good management of the harvesting process. Besides harvesting grain crops, it is necessary to get ready for corn harvesting and to process vegetable and fruit products, to do the tillage and get the land ready for winter crops, and to procure fodder.

In this regard, Aleksandr Lukashenko positively assessed the work of Ozeritsky-Agro.

The head of state drew particular attention to the potato harvesting strategy. It is important to procure enough potatoes and keep them in proper conditions, meet the domestic demand for potatoes and sell them abroad. This year the potato yields will be good – about 7 million tonnes are to be harvested. Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the bulk of potatoes are produced by private farms. Therefore, the President gave an instruction to buy potatoes from them and help them sell this product.

“The food reserves are of paramount importance. Thanks to these reserves we will have the vest varieties of our own potatoes on the shelves. The most important thing for us this year is to provide people with good potatoes,” the President said.

He praised the quality of Belarusian potato varieties. “The new varieties developed in vitro (I tried them) were studied in laboratories in Russia and in Belarus. They are great,” the President said.