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Lukashenka suggests accelerating farming modernization

Alyaksandr Lukashenka emphasized the need for speeding up the modernization of all farms and the entire farm produce processing industry, while speaking Saturday at Dazhynki 2009, a national end-of-harvest festival held in the city of Kobryn, Brest region.

“We have no time to hang about,” the Belarusian leader said. “It is necessary to reach the European level of production within the next five years, and intensively modernize the entire farming and processing sector. The most important factors in this regard are the efficiency and pace of development, and the ability to promptly respond to the demands of both the domestic and global markets. This is what the new 2011-15 rural development program should be aimed at, which is now being devised by our scientists, experts of the appropriate state organizations and the government.”

The main goal is to increase the efficiency of farming and reach a profitability rate of 25 to 30 percent, the head of state stressed.

Mr. Lukashenka noted that farms were successful at growing and harvesting grain crops this year despite May’s drought and unprecedented rains in June. According to him, this year’s total grain harvest amounted to nine million tons, or slightly less than last year's all-time record harvest. It is also very important that each of the six regions harvested more than one million tons, with the Minsk region harvesting more than two million tons, Mr. Lukashenka said. Like in previous years, the Hrodna region had the highest per-hectare yield — more than 4.5 tons, he noted. //BelaPAN