Lukashenko: we shouldn’t import any grain
Aleksandr Lukashenko has visited the Krupki District of the Minsk Region, where he set a number of tasks in the agro-industrial complex. Commenting on the approaches towards the modernisation and development of inefficient agricultural enterprises, the President also touched upon the topic of grain imports.
In particular, he clarified the task set to the Government and the State Control Committee, “We should not import any grain. We have enough lands to produce grain here, feed poultry and pigs, process this grain into good mixed fodder, feed livestock, and then receive meat and milk. It is simple math.”
The Head of State also touched upon the development of farming, paying attention to the fact that land can also be given to farmers, creating farms. However, there are nuances here: will they be able to carry a serious social burden?
Nevertheless, the Head of State praised farmers, who work hard, but at the same time he defines guidelines, “We have such a policy in our state: if you want to take the land of the former collective farm, you are welcome to do this, but you should take it together with the village and production facilities, bring them to order and work. Here is our policy in the countryside. By doing this, we save villages and give work to rural population. That is how it should be. This is our policy in agriculture.”
According to the Belarusian leader, control is needed here in order not to get negative examples of land division, as, e.g., in Ukraine, “There needs to be control everywhere. The same refers to farming. I don’t want farmers to hear this and think that we’re against them. This is not the case. If farmers came here, took 40 percent of these lands [in the Krupki District], gave people jobs, built housing, helped and established such a production base ... we would be only happy!”
