Experienced farmers and students of agricultural lyceums. The regional plowing competition was held near Orsha
As emphasized by the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, who personally assessed the quality of plowing and congratulated the participants of the competition, the competition reflects the development strategy of agriculture in the Vitebsk region.
– The future belongs to youth. To the person of labor who grows bread and feeds humanity, – noted the head of the region. – Who will work tomorrow, if not the youth? But how to attract them to the village? We have defined a clear strategy. It is with students of agricultural colleges and lyceums that we are working this out in practice. There is an extreme shortage of machine operators today, especially during peak season. We attract about 700-800 workers from cities annually. And at the same time, our educational institutions graduate 700 machine operators annually.
Addressing the youth, Nikolai Sherstnev added that a decision was made within the framework of the educational program to increase practical training from five weeks to six months.
– This is done so that you can realistically master the agricultural machinery and tractors that machine operators are currently working with. It is impossible in five weeks, – stated the head of the region. – You gain experience, master the equipment, and receive a salary. The most important thing is the understanding that the village is changing: there is different equipment now, different approaches, different salaries. And tomorrow you will be working on even more advanced equipment than you had the opportunity to plow with today. Progress does not stand still. Completely new farms will be created for you, not 1.5-2 thousand hectares of arable land, as before, but integration structures with an area of up to 100 thousand hectares or more of arable land.
The Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee noted that ploughing contests should become a tradition in every district.
In turn, the Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev, pointed out that the era of high technologies dictates completely different working conditions for farmers.
– The professional skills of people involved in the agricultural process come to the forefront. Therefore, the participation of mentor and student in the competition is not accidental. We must train professionals who will grow good and cheap bread, – added the head of the region's deputy corps.
According to the competition rules, each participant on one of the four types of ploughing units – "Belarus", "Kirovets", Xerion-5000, and Case IH Steiger – completed 12 full passes.
Speed is not the main thing in these competitions, nor is the distance you cover in a certain time. The first place is given to the depth, uniformity, and linearity of ploughing the land.
The competition was held in four shifts.
– It was very difficult and exciting, – said Viktor Matsulyov, a third-year student at the Dubrovno State Vocational Lyceum of Agricultural Production. – This is my first time participating in such a competition. Before this, I practiced my skills for two weeks with my mentor from Orsha KHP, Dmitry Fillipovich, in the fields of Borzdovka, near Kokhanovo. Today we showed what we learned. I am glad that I had the opportunity to work on such equipment as the Case IH Steiger. At the lyceum, I only mastered MTZ-1221 and MTZ-82. Now I can confidently sit at the controls of a modern agricultural machine – nothing is scary. This is a huge experience and honor for me.
And this experience was duly appreciated – the tandem of Dmitry Fillipovich and Viktor Matsulyov took 1st place in the crew competition on the Case IH Steiger.
The Chairman of the Committee for Agriculture and Food of the Regional Executive Committee, Mikhail Pridybailo, noted that the competition was adapted to emphasize the importance of the bread-maker profession and to assess the level of integration structures, which are currently the technical basis of the machine and tractor fleet of Vitebsk region.
– In 2017 alone, over 1300 units of seeding, crop care, and soil cultivation equipment were acquired by integration structures, which allows for the completion of main operations within tight agro-technical deadlines, – stated Mikhail Pridibaylo. – We want young people to quickly grasp the specifics of the profession, become familiar with the equipment and operating techniques, and work highly professionally and effectively on modern machinery.
In the Vitebsk region, all agro-technical operations have tight deadlines. Nature has given the region 10 to 15 days less compared to other regions of our country. Our task is to manage to complete large volumes of work in a short period. This is impossible without high-performance equipment and trained machine operators.
As it should be, the final chord of the plowmen's competition was the award ceremony for the winners. The best structure that demonstrated the highest skill was recognized as the team of machine operators from OJSC "Orshansky KHP".
The organizers of the regional plowmen's competition were the Committee for Agriculture and Food, the Main Department for Education of the Regional Executive Committee, the Orsha District Executive Committee, and OJSC "Vitebskmyasomolprom".