Winter crops in the Vitebsk region have successfully overwintered
The agro-meteorological conditions of the current off-season have been favorable for winter crops in the Vitebsk region. This was announced today by Boris Efremov, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, in response to a question from a BELTA correspondent.
"Winter crops have overwintered quite successfully. And if the current temperature fluctuations do not significantly affect the condition of the crops, then the projected losses will not exceed 10% for winter cereals and 10-12% for winter rapeseed. This gives hope to avoid reseeding large areas, which will facilitate the spring sowing campaign for farmers," informed Boris Efremov.
Spring weather has only just begun to establish itself in the northern region of the country, so it is too early to talk about specific sowing dates, said the deputy chairman. At the same time, active preparations for it are already underway in all farms.
The total spring sowing this spring in the Vitebsk region will be 380 thousand hectares, including 203 thousand hectares of spring cereals, of which 75 thousand hectares are cereals and legumes. Corn for green fodder will be sown on 80 thousand hectares, spring rapeseed on about 60 thousand hectares, and annual crops on over 20 thousand hectares. It is also necessary to undersow grasses on an area of 155 thousand hectares, this work is already underway: as of March 22, about 20 thousand hectares have been undersown in areas where machinery can enter the fields.
The seed fund, taking into account insurance reseeding, is provided in the region at 130% of the requirement. "There are certain minor delays in the supply of mineral fertilizers to agricultural enterprises. But the funds have already been transferred to OJSC Grodno Azot, and the shipment of fertilizers within the quotas allocated for the Vitebsk region continues. For the first top dressing, 25 thousand tons of nitrogen fertilizers are also needed. They will be delivered to supply bases and farms on time. It is necessary to top dress 213 thousand hectares of winter cereals and about 50 thousand hectares of winter cruciferous crops," added Boris Efremov.