The Ministry of Agriculture and Food requires the establishment of a technology dictatorship in livestock farming in the Vitebsk region

October 15, Tolochin / Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food considers the unsatisfactory performance of the livestock industry in the Vitebsk region to be due to violations of technological discipline and demands the establishment of a technology dictatorship. This was stated today at a meeting on the results of the region's livestock industry performance for January-September 2012 by Minister of Agriculture and Food Leonid Zayats, according to a BELTA correspondent. Based on the results of the nine-month period, the growth rate of agricultural production in the public sector in the Vitebsk region was 101.1% compared to last year, while this figure reached 107.2% for the republic as a whole. The number of loss-making agricultural and processing enterprises has increased in the region. Such performance of the agro-industrial sector is due, among other things, to the unsatisfactory state of affairs in livestock farming. Leonid Zayats stated that the region has the lowest indicators in the republic for livestock weight gain, milk yield per cow, gross milk production, and its sales. In his opinion, the main reasons for this situation lie in low technological and executive discipline, and the lack of control over the livestock industry by district heads and district agricultural departments. The minister became convinced of this personally during his visits to the region's farms. "The region needs to establish a technology dictatorship and strictly demand compliance with feeding and animal husbandry regulations, but first, people need to be taught this," believes Leonid Zayats. The current purchase prices for milk and meat make livestock farming a profitable agricultural production, the minister noted. "A farm is a mint for any agricultural enterprise," he emphasized. Compliance with technologies will allow for increased production volumes, reduced costs, and improved efficiency, which will lead to increased labor productivity and higher wages for both farm workers and agricultural specialists. Leonid Zayats set the district heads the task of increasing milk production by 10% by the end of the year compared to 2011 and increasing milk yield per cow by 1 kg. The minister has taken the situation in the Vitebsk region's livestock industry under his personal control. -0-