MINSK, 13 July (BelTA) – Head of the Central Office for Crop Farming of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry Nikolai Leshik has talked to a BelTA reporter to sketch out the state of the country's food security.
Nikolai Leshik said: “Everything has been done this year in order to produce at least 8.7 million tonnes of cereals. A large area has been allocated for sowing cereal crops – about 2.5 million hectares. According to experts, this year's harvest in Belarus should be roughly 1.5 million tonnes larger than last year's. This is why food security of our population has been ensured and there are no fears that we may lack something.”
Speaking about potatoes, Nikolai Leshik remarked that the domestic demand is fully satisfied. As much as 15-20% of the output is used to satisfy needs of the population while the rest is sold. Thus, about 300,000 tonnes of Belarusian potatoes is exported every year. The areas under different crops have not changed substantially in comparison with last year's. One can say the population is fully supplied with vegetables.
The official went on saying: “Bearing in mind data of the previous periods, Belarus had problems with growing buckwheat. This is why over 30,000ha of land has been sown with buckwheat this year in order to satisfy the domestic demand. The crops are in a good state while the weather conditions promise no problems with the growth of these crops. We intend to leave 25,000-28,000 tonnes of buckwheat for processing and leave about 3,000 tonnes as seeds in order to continue working on buckwheat farming next year.”
In his words, Belarus also grows about 170,000 tonnes of apples. Active work is also in progress to develop apple varieties and improve the taste of this fruit. “According to our calculations, we will have to plant another 2,000 intensive orchards in order to fully supply the population with apples. Apart from that, it is also necessary to modernize storage facilities in order to extend the storage term of the fruits,” he remarked.
Nikolai Leshik added that the niche of stone fruit farming (apricots, peaches, and so on) remains open. Work has been in progress for the last two years to increase areas under blueberries and blueberry production. Blueberries are popular in neighboring countries but there are also plans to satisfy the domestic demand. At the same time work is in progress to grow sunflowers, soybeans, and nut-fruited crops.
