A headquarters to monitor the progress of the harvesting campaign has been established under the Council of Ministers of Belarus

July 22, Minsk /Nadezhda Radivon - BELTA/. A headquarters to monitor the harvesting campaign has been established under the Council of Ministers, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Valery Ivanov told a BELTA correspondent.

In the coming days, members of the government, as part of working groups, will visit regions to familiarize themselves with the state of affairs and the organization of agricultural work on site. The farmers are tasked with minimizing losses, harvesting grain within optimal deadlines and with high quality. Every favorable moment should be used, while each field should be approached individually, as uneven ripening of the grain fields is observed. The main criterion in decision-making should be an objective assessment of possible risks. The choice should be made in favor of minimizing losses.

"It is important to choose the right tactics. Having visited the Vitebsk region, we became convinced that weather conditions were not always effectively used, and delays are fraught with missed opportunities and losses," believes Valery Ivanov.

Currently, some managers are waiting for the moment when the ear is fully filled and the raw material moisture decreases. "It is a mistake to wait until everything is fully ripe and gluten formation occurs. Some farms, having a good material and technical base, with a grain moisture content of 20%, delay harvesting, waiting for the grain to dry further. In our opinion, this is a mistake in the conditions of the republic. A large part of the grown crop can be lost," the Vice Premier is confident.

According to him, Belarus is in a zone of risky agriculture; there have been practically no years when natural disasters did not disrupt the plans of farmers. Sunny days are quickly replaced by rainy ones; during harvesting, squally downpours with hail and strong winds are not uncommon. Harvesting the entire crop at once is difficult even with high technical equipment of farms.

"The task is to harvest all ripe grain; grain drying and cleaning complexes, and machinery should work at full capacity. Special load falls on specialists," said Valery Ivanov.

Belarus expects to receive 9 million tons of grain in barn weight this year, including corn grain – this is the preliminary estimate of the harvest in the fields. Valery Ivanov reiterated the need to minimize losses. The harvesting process will be monitored by created working groups until the campaign is completed. Everyone should be interested in collecting the grown harvest, even if it entails additional costs.-0-