The Dokshytsy district was the first in the Vitebsk region to join the sowing campaign

April 2, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Dokshitsy district was the first in the Vitebsk region to start the sowing campaign, the chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Agriculture and Food Committee, Leonid Pleshko, told a BELTA correspondent. For now, sowing is being carried out selectively, but in the coming days, with the arrival of stable warmth, it will actively unfold in all districts, the interlocutor noted. This year, the region's farms will have to sow 353 thousand hectares. Of these, 80 hectares are for corn, 28 thousand hectares are allocated for flax, 20 thousand hectares for winter and spring rapeseed, 5.5 thousand hectares for potatoes, and the rest will be occupied by grain crops. In addition, about 200 thousand hectares will have to be plowed for grain and fodder crops. In total, about 8.5 thousand units of equipment, which are ready for work, will be deployed to the fields of the region this spring. And to carry out the sowing campaign in the shortest possible time, about 1 thousand tractor drivers from urban utility enterprises and several hundred graduates of agricultural schools and colleges will be sent to help the rural areas. The target indicators of the socio-economic development forecast for the Vitebsk region for 2009 provide for the production of grain and leguminous crops of more than 1.2 million tons, potatoes - over 1.2 million tons, vegetables - 300 thousand tons, flax fiber - 20 thousand tons, milk - more than 1 million tons. The expected growth rate of production in 2009 in all categories of farms is 109.5% compared to the 2008 level. -0-