MINSK, 26 July (BelTA) - Soil fertility is the number one priority for the country, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a conference to discuss the progress in the harvest campaign on 26 July, BelTA has learned.
The president heard out the opinion of Director General of the National Research Center for Agriculture Fyodor Privalov on the current harvest campaign and the situation in the agricultural sector in general.
The scientist pointed to the need for more active liming of soils, which contributes to the yield and quality of crops. In recent years, there has been a trend on reducing the volume of such works. Aleksandr Lukashenko drew the attention of Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayats to the matter. “Reclamation and liming of soils is our bread, it is the government's job. Soil fertility is the number one priority for us, for our country,” the president said.
The participants of the meeting also discussed the practical aspects of rapeseed harvesting in order to minimize possible losses and ensure high yields.
Fyodor Privalov's overall assessment of the situation on the fields was not bad at all. In his words, in most cases harvesters are able to harvest crops without crop lifters. Periodic rains restrain the pace of harvesting to some extent, but they are important in this period for other crops, including sugar beets, corn and potatoes.
The president also focused on the importance to provide cattle with protein fodder, further selection work in this direction, production of sufficient amounts of domestic seeds and cultivation of the corresponding crops.
Fyodor Privalov mentioned the advantages of soybeans, which are experimentally planted in Belarus as well. However, it is a southern crop, which is used to shorter daylight hours. In Belarus it is good to cultivate traditional crops, including peas and lupine. Although domestic breeders do not discount soybeans either.
“Figure out how we will provide ourselves with protein. We will harvest the crop. It is not a problem. The main thing is to have what to harvest. We need to look at the long term. We spend hundreds of millions of US dollars to purchase protein crops - soybeans, etc. We have to produce them ourselves,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko addressing Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayats. “One cannot do without protein. We cannot count on imports. No one will sell it to us. If they do, the prices will be sky-high,” the head of state added.
