Vitebsk region farmers have switched to a two-shift work schedule for grain sowing

April 18, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. A two-shift work regime has been organized for spring field work in the Vitebsk region, Ivan Fyodorov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Agriculture and Food of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, told a BELTA correspondent. All farms in the region have started sowing early spring grain crops. According to data as of the morning of April 18, 30.5 thousand hectares of grain crops have been sown in the region, which is 12% of the spring sowing area. Last year, 20% of the area was sown by this date. The reason for the lag was the late spring, however, in order to meet the optimal deadlines, all farms in the region have organized a two-shift work regime for sowing and soil preparation. As Ivan Fyodorov noted, energy-intensive equipment, which agricultural enterprises are fully provided with, allows sowing almost non-stop: the working day in the field lasts from 6 am to 9 pm. The pace of work increases daily by 4-5 thousand hectares. The farmers are tasked with increasing the sown area by 20 thousand hectares daily in order to complete the sowing of grain crops, rapeseed, and flax by April 28. The region's farms are fully provided with fertilizers, seeds, and fuel. More than 1,000 sowing units are working in the fields. In the Vitebsk region, it is planned to sow spring grain and leguminous crops on an area of about 257 thousand hectares, 20 thousand hectares are allocated for flax, spring rapeseed will be sown on 13.1 thousand hectares, and corn will occupy 100 thousand hectares. In addition, for the 2011 harvest, winter grain crops have been sown on an area of over 240 thousand hectares, with winter wheat and triticale accounting for almost 70% of the winter sowing area. Winter rapeseed is almost 87 thousand hectares, its sown area has expanded by more than 15% compared to 2010. -0-