Sergey Levkovich familiarized himself with the soybean cultivation experiment at the Mazolavagaz agricultural branch of Vitebskoblgaz UP.
– The climate is changing, and our conditions, as practice shows, allow us to grow a good harvest, – noted Sergey Levkovich. – It is necessary to engage in the cultivation of this crop, because today it is impossible to imagine animal husbandry and poultry farming without soybeans. In addition, this is a huge dependence of our country on imports; soybeans are imported in large volumes. For example, last year, more than 70 thousand tons were imported into the region for enterprises involved in the production of compound feeds for the needs of not only the Vitebsk region, but also other regions.
Last year, soybeans were cultivated in Mazolovo for the first time; as an experiment, the "Pripyat" variety was sown. The yield was small – 15.5 centners.
– Last year, soybeans were sown in late May. Due to the lack of precipitation, this crop emerged unevenly, and soil herbicides worked poorly, – noted Vadim Mikhalenok, Deputy Head of the Department of Industrial and Agricultural Production, Energy Efficiency, Transport and Mechanization of Technological Processes at Vitebskoblgaz Unitary Enterprise. – This year, we took into account last year's mistakes; the sowing dates were shifted to May 9-10. We selected two varieties: "Odessa" was sown on 10 hectares and "Pripyat" – on 90 hectares. We are satisfied with the experiment. We recently purchased two soybean headers, which minimize losses and improve the quality of harvesting. We plan to increase the area to 150 hectares. We have studied and tested the technology; now we are working on increasing production.