A. Lukashenko set the task of increasing the pace of grain harvesting

August 3, Gorki /Corr. BELTA/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has set the task of increasing the pace of grain harvesting. He drew attention to this today during a visit to the Gorki state farm-combinat in the Mogilev region, BELTA correspondent reports.

According to the head of state, harvesting is starting to lag behind in farms, and the pace is slowing down. In order to rectify the situation and harvest the grain on time, it is necessary to increase harvesting by 2-2.5% daily.

"These days, we need to increase the pace, otherwise we will lose the harvest. The grain has already ripened everywhere," said Alexander Lukashenko, emphasizing that accelerated work should not be at the expense of quality.

As reported to the head of state by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Mikhail Rusy, as of today, 45% of all areas have been harvested in the country, and 3.710 million tons of grain have been threshed. It is expected that by the evening, the threshed amount will exceed 4 million tons. According to the minister, it is quite realistic to obtain over 8 million tons of grain from agricultural enterprises. The yield is increasing daily. As of today, it is 34 centners per hectare, which is higher than last year's figures and the previous day. Overall, the yield in all regions of the country is higher than last year. Only the threshed amount is lagging behind. Mikhail Rusy assured that the task set to complete the grain harvest by August 22 will be fulfilled.

According to the minister, serious attention is paid to the quality of harvesting, and all violations are strictly monitored. Decisions have been made that combine crews found to be harvesting poorly will be removed from the competition.

All farms are provided with fuel and necessary equipment, and grain is accepted at elevators around the clock. As for the fulfillment of the state order for food grain, 45% of the plan has been received to date. The minister emphasized that the wheat is of particularly high quality. Plans also include obtaining 1 million tons of corn and 4.2 million tons of sugar beet. In addition, it is planned to sow at least 1.5 million hectares of winter crops and bring 150-200 thousand hectares of inefficiently used land into agricultural circulation.

Regarding rapeseed, the President believes that the yield is too low. "This is the last year of such sloppiness. If we cannot cultivate rapeseed, it is better not to sow it. What is 16 centners per hectare? It should be at least 25 centners per hectare. It is a capricious crop, so we need to identify fields and where it is possible - sow, where it is not - do not insist. Because 16 centners per hectare is not a yield," said Alexander Lukashenko. -0-