
MINSK, 5 August (BelTA) - The pace of grain harvesting is accelerating, Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister Yuri Gorlov said on the air of the Belarus 1TV channel on 4 August, BelTA learned.
"The harvesting pace is now increasing due to improved weather. Over the past day, we harvested nearly 3% of the areas planted to grain and leguminous crops and 6% of the rapeseed area. This is the pace that suits us for now. Of course, we need to accelerate further. In fact, we should be wrapping up the rapeseed harvest this very week. After that, most harvesters will be deployed to remove grain and leguminous crops, which will significantly increase the harvesting rate. Yesterday alone, we threshed nearly a quarter million tonnes of grain, a substantial figure that reflects our harvesting pace. We are slightly behind schedule because last year the harvest began earlier than this year's. However, we're seeing that this year's yield of grain and leguminous crops is significantly higher than last year's," Yuri Gorlov said.
"Belarusian farmers have already threshed over 3 million tonnes of grain, including rapeseed. This is despite the fact that we have only harvested 30% of the areas planted to grain and leguminous crops,” the minister noted. “Weather may require us to adjust our plans. However, we are not concerned about the rainy weather at all. In fact, some crops currently need this moisture," the minister added.