Leonid Zayats: we use every hour to harvest grain
On the morning of July 27th, about 16 percent of the entire grain area was harvested in Belarus, 1,156,000 tonnes of grain were threshed, with the yield standing at 36.2 centners per hectare – as Belarus’ Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayats told journalists after his report to President Aleksandr Lukashenko
According to the Deputy PM, the harvesting campaign is now being held back due to weather conditions, while the equipment is at a high degree of readiness, “The harvesters are in good working order, and the drying facilities are working at 100 percent. Therefore, we are waiting for good weather conditions at the edge of the field and will proceed to harvesting. We use every hour to harvest grain. There’re enough technical capabilities and human resources to harvest everything on time and without loss.”
Leonid Zayats underlined that all decisions regarding the harvesting of grain crops have been made at the level of the Head of State and the Government: from the provision of fuel and vehicles to the supply of spare parts. Alongside harvesting grain crops, farmers are now harvesting winter rapeseed.
“61 percent of all areas have been harvested, 508,000 tonnes have been harvested, the yield is 24.4 centners per hectare. We expect to receive more than 800,000 tonnes of winter rapeseed this year; moreover, we have another 50,000 tonnes of spring rapeseed, so the gross harvest will not be lower than that of last year, enabling us to ensure the fulfilment of the state order in the amount of 100,000 tonnes. To date, 44,000 tonnes have already been sold through the state order,” said Leonid Zayats.
As part of the state order, 60,000 tonnes of selected food grains were also sold, as well as 20,000 tonnes of malting barley. In total, 800,000 tonnes of food grain, 100,000 tonnes of malting barley, 160,000 tonnes of grain for alcohol will be sold. Moreover, it is planned to import 500,000 tonnes of grain from Russia. According to Leonid Zayats, the contract for the supply of the first 150,000 tonnes was signed by the Vitebsk Region.
The Deputy PM also added that the issue of fuel has been completely settled in the country: following the results of the recent major conference call, the President made the appropriate decision.
