Mass sowing of winter cereals has begun in Belarus

September 2, Minsk / Olga Belyavskaya - BELTA /. Farms in Belarus have begun mass sowing of winter cereals, Grigory Romanyuk, head of the department of crop production, fodder production and seed production of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, told a BELTA correspondent. As of the morning of September 2, winter cereals have been sown on 118.7 thousand hectares, which is 8.4% of the plan. On the same date last year, 91 thousand hectares, or 6.4% of the target, were sown. In total, this year winter cereals will occupy 1,410.7 thousand hectares of agricultural land. At the same time, the structure of the winter sowing area by region will practically not change compared to last year. In terms of sowing rates, agricultural organizations of the Vitebsk region are ahead, where 21.4% of the areas allocated for these crops are already occupied by winter cereals. The second place is taken by the Mogilev region - here 11.4% of the plan has been sown. The Gomel region is in third place, where 8.3% of the target has been fulfilled. In the Brest region, 6% of the planned area has been sown, in the Minsk region - 4.5%, and in the Grodno region - 3%. Grigory Romanyuk said that the sowing of winter cereals in the country as a whole began within optimal agro-technical terms. Farms are provided with the necessary amount of seeds, fuel, and modern combined tillage and sowing units, which allow for timely and high-quality sowing of winter crops. It is planned that most agricultural organizations in the country will complete the sowing of winter wheat by September 15, and winter rye and triticale by September 20. Sowing rates depend on soil preparation and the application of mineral fertilizers. Currently, 639 thousand hectares have been prepared for sowing winter crops, which is 45.3% of the plan. Farms in the Mogilev and Vitebsk regions are leading, with 63% and 55% of the areas prepared, respectively. The specialist also drew attention to the importance of strictly adhering to agro-technical requirements in soil preparation and sowing of winter crops. The practice of advanced farms shows that the clear implementation of a set of agro-technical methods for growing winter crops ensures their successful overwintering and obtaining a high yield. -0-