MINSK, 12 May (BelTA) – The national round of the international competition “The Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year Award 2021” has kicked off in Belarus. Eligible for participation are representatives of private households, farms, and agricultural enterprises from all regions of the country, BelTA learned from Tatiana Ostroukh, a specialist in organic farming of the Center for Environmental Solutions of Belarus.
The Center for Environmental Solutions has already opened applications that will close on 30 May. Participants are required to tell about eco-friendly farming solutions they use. The jury will select three winners who will get money prizes. Runners-up will receive presents from sponsors of the competition.
The main goal of the competition is to support manufacturers of agricultural products who use eco-friendly farming practices that help reduce the impact on the environment, Tatiana Ostroukh explained.
The Center for Environmental Solutions has held the national round of “The Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year Award” for three years with the support of the Coalition Clean Baltic partnership. The competition was introduced in 2009 by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and brings together 11 countries of the Baltic Sea region. In 2021, the Center for Environmental Solutions decided to expand the competition to all regions of Belarus.
In order to recognize small farms using eco-friendly practices, new categories for enterprises of various sizes have been added to the competition.
This year's edition of the national competition in Belarus includes two categories: for eco-friendly farmers of the Black Sea region with the main prize of €500 and for eco-friendly farmers of the Baltic Sea region consisting of two sub-categories: for farms larger than 5 hectares with the main prize of €1,000 and for farms smaller than 5 hectares with the main prize of €250.
More information about the competition and the application form is available at http://ecofermer.tilda.ws/.
