Lukashenko on the situation in agriculture: it is necessary to maintain momentum and reap rich harvest
The President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, discussed the situation in agriculture at today’s meeting with the leadership of the Council of Ministers, noting that – due to challengeable weather conditions, there are certain difficulties. However, the Head of State preferred not to dramatize the situation: i.e. there was enough rain in the west and south of the country.
“Therefore, it is not necessary to start crying about the fact that something will not work out and it is bad, to prepare me in advance for your failure in this agricultural year results. I understand what is happening. True, some fields have dried up, and primarily grains and herbs have suffered a little... If we receive less grain, our neighbours have an excess of it today – so we can always buy this grain. Moreover, grain is sold today at very low prices, and they are sometimes even lower than our cost price. So it makes sense to buy and place it in our free storage facilities. We have plenty of the latter since Soviet times. We have preserved everything. Let us have cheap grain. Meanwhile, we now need to think of how to prepare herbaceous forage. We can actually do this,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The President added that there had been good rains in the centre of the country, and precipitation is expected in its eastern regions in the near future. “Corn is rising, and we need to fertilise it in time. Differently speaking, there is no catastrophe, and the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the sphere of agriculture recognised that. We just need to find way around in time, [focusing] on where it has dried up," he said.
As an example, Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned the Presidential experimental field: several different crops are cultivated there – including winter barley, which is now wonderfully ripening. “Why is this observed? This is the President’s field. It is well-tended – as it should be. Everything is done according to technology, and the drought has not destroyed this winter barley. All the crops cultivated there are developing normally, since they meet technology. We used the necessary fertilisers, including organic ones, properly sowed, fed when there was an excess of moisture, and so we have got the result,” he noted.
Special attention was paid to animal husbandry. “How is the forage harvesting going? The first mowing of perennial grasses is coming to an end, and their productivity is worse than last year. Clearly, we are not getting enough from the first mowing. What should be done?” the Head of State asked.
According to the President, in the first five months of the year, livestock and poultry production increased in all regions (by almost five percent countrywide), milk – by six percent.
“It is necessary to maintain momentum and reap rich harvest,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
