MINSK, 20 July (BelTA) – Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister Anatoly Linevich reported on the progress in the ongoing harvesting campaign, its first results and problems at a teleconference hosted by the Belarusian head of state on 19 July, BelTA has learned.
Winter barley is a challenge to grow, but this crop is for our region
According to the minister, this year's harvesting area of grain and leguminous crops is 2.1 million hectares. This is 68,000 hectares more than last year. Corn crops have covered 300,000 hectares.
“Winter barley has been harvested. What are your conclusions?” the president asked.
“The crop is for our region. The harvest made up 800,000 tonnes. The yield is over 30 centners [per hectare]. We have decided not to reduce the sown areas under this crop this year,” Anatoly Linevich said.
“We were expecting more from winter barley,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
According to the minister, the wintering conditions did not allow better results. In addition, there were some technological deficiencies during crop care.
“So, the conclusion is the following: winter barley is a difficult crop to row in a risk farming area, i.e. in Belarus. That is why we need to choose fields carefully. It tolerates frosts very badly and withers out if there is a lot of snow. Choose the right fields. We need to barley yields of at least 40 centners per hectare,” the head of state said.
The president was reported that in some farms winter barley yields exceed 100 centners per hectare. “You have chosen the right fields and technologies,” Aleksandr Lukashenko commented.
Rapeseed is a profitable crop
“You have begun harvesting rapeseed. What does rapeseed show this year? How many have been harvested?” the president asked.
According to Anatoly Linevich, 75% of rapeseed area has been harvested, with the average yield at 26 centners per hectare. “It is worth cultivating rapeseed, especially winter rapeseed. Spring rapeseed grows well in the northern regions,” the minister said.
“Rapeseed is a profitable crop. It is as good as milk in cattle breeding. We need to cultivate this crop. This crop as well as other crops need good care. The main conclusion here is that we need rapeseed but it should be cultivated as much as we can harvest and process,” the head of state said.
The head of state drew attention to the fact that even within Vitebsk Oblast the yield of rapeseed can differ dramatically. Aleksandr Lukashenko wondered why some succeed and others fail.
“They underperform,” Anatoly Linevich said.
“So make them work! If you cannot make them work, tell me. [Belarusian Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan] Kubrakov and I will make everyone work tomorrow,” the president said.
The minister also mentioned the weather factor. One of the farms sowed winter rapeseed on time and in compliance with the technology, but a few days of frost killed 95% of the crops.
“What do you mean there are not enough farm-machine operators?”
Aleksandr Lukashenko touched upon the situation with the number of agricultural workers and availability of farming machinery.
“If Subbotin and Linevich keep lamenting that they lack harvester operators and machinery, they should be removed from their posts,” the president said. “What do you mean there are not enough farm-machine operators? Find them in the cities. Discuss the matter with heads of enterprises.”
According to Anatoly Linevich, about 50 combine harvesters are not engaged in fieldwork due to technical reasons. Some of them are imported, which means there are problems with the supply of spare parts. These issues have been almost solved, the minister said.
The head of state did not accept these explanations: “Why didn’t you buy the necessary components in winter? It is nonsense that we cannot buy spare parts for imported machinery.”
“There should be no delays in procurement contracts”
“What else do we lack?” Aleksandr Lukashenko asked.
“Br130 million should be allocated to buy food grain from farmers,” the minister said.
“There should not no delays in procurement contracts,” the president set the task for the finance minister.
The head of state emphasized that all the issues had been resolved in order to ensure a successful harvesting campaign.
“Therefore, we need to organize work properly and crop our harvest. This requires tough discipline,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
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