A seminar for young foresters of the Vitebsk region was held at the Glubokoye Experimental Forestry
Vitebsk State Production Forestry Association includes 19 forestry enterprises. In total, over 6,000 people work in the structure. Every year in October, meetings are held for novice specialists, and this year there are more than 80 of them. These meetings help them learn more about promising technologies and labor organization.
– The careful use of forest resources is one of the primary tasks of each forestry enterprise. Forest restoration is not a one-day job. It takes several decades to grow a large, strong tree from a small seedling, – noted the Chief Forester of Vitebsk State Production Forestry Association, Yevgeny Filippov. – The young men and women have already worked in the forestry enterprises for several months, and it is time to unite them, to set them on the right track, by indicating the benchmarks they should strive to achieve.
Yevgeny Vladimirovich called this event an introductory trip, a theoretical lesson in the open air. The seminar opened at the base nursery of the Glubokoye Experimental Forestry, which last year established a modern complex for growing planting material with a closed root system.
A high-precision seed sowing line ensures that the seed is placed in the center of the separated cells. This guarantees the ideal development of the root system. In seven greenhouses with a total area of 6,000 sq. m, optimal temperature, humidity, and lighting are maintained. There is an automated system for watering and fertilizing. Compliance with all requirements guarantees success.
– This is a landmark facility not only for the Gluboksky district, Vitebsk region, but for the entire forestry sector of the country. Three such complexes have been created in the republic, and another one is under construction in the Mogilev region, – said Evgeny Filippov.
Every year, about 4 thousand hectares of new forests appear in the Vitebsk region. High-tech production, based on growing planting material using Finnish technology, minimizes the human factor and significantly expands the agro-technical periods for planting forest crops. The Director of the Gluboksky Experimental Forestry Enterprise, Sergey Gayduk, recalled that seedlings with a closed root system can be planted almost at any time of the year. This technology is a great support for the domestic forestry sector.
Seminar participants visited greenhouses for growing planting material in closed ground, inspected equipment, and familiarized themselves with the production activities of the woodworking shop. Glubokoye ships 60% of its sawn timber for export. By the way, considering the changed market conditions, almost all forestry enterprises of the Vitebsk State Production Forestry Association are currently engaged in wood processing. In the future, it is planned to build two pellet plants in the region for processing, primarily low-grade wood.
As a memento of the seminar, its participants planted several young trees in the dendrological garden of the Glubokoye Forestry Enterprise, which is the second largest in Belarus in terms of size and species diversity after the Minsk Central Botanical Garden.