Zayats: Farmers should do what they can in current weather conditions
Leonid Zayats. An archive photo
MINSK, 28 July (BelTA) – Agricultural workers should do what they can in the current weather conditions, Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayats told the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA informs.
The weather is very unpredictable in July this year. However, agricultural workers cannot put harvesting on hold. “It is necessary to do what can be done in the given weather conditions. It is good that it rains. We have many crops on large areas that need moisture. These are potatoes, sugar beet, corn, perennial grasses that are forming at the moment,” he informed.
Leonid Zayats said that his day begins with updates on the situation in the regions. The vice premier is briefed on weather conditions and the needs of a particular region. “It is easy to have an impact on the situation when you are in control of it. At the moment, the task is to harvest grain crops. We need to use every minute of good weather to do agricultural works,” he noted. “The crops in the country are quite good. The initial forecasts were pretty disheartening, but the reality has turned out to be better. Today the yield is 36.2 centners per hectare. This is quite good compared to previous years. If we take all area under crops, the gross harvest will be over 7 million tonnes.”
All emerging issues are handled on the ground — at agricultural companies, by the district and regional authorities, the vice premier noted. “All organizational issues delegated to the government have been resolved. The issue with fuel has been resolved with the help of the president, the issues of machinery and drying complexes have been resolved, too. Machine operators and other workers have been incentivized. People are highly motivated, which is important for effective work. Everything is going on well at the moment. But it all depends on workers, specifically machine operators, specialists, managers. Of course, weather conditions are also important,” he added.
