This season, flax growers in the Vitebsk region have achieved the best results in recent years

This was stated at a ceremony honoring industry leaders held at the regional executive committee.

According to Tatiana Yarema, Director of VitebskoblLlen OJSC, over 5,000 people currently work in the system. The Vitebsk region has the largest number of flax processing plants – 9, and flax-sowing farms – 11. The Flax Institute of the National Academy of Sciences and the Orsha Flax Mill are located within the region. Despite challenging weather conditions during sowing and harvesting, agricultural producers harvested the largest amount of flax straw and seeds – one-third of the country's total volume. In total, 40.9 thousand tons of flax straw were laid in the stacks (22% more than in 2015) with an average grade of 0.99. The highest yield of flax fiber in recent years was achieved – 10.8 centners/hectare. The profitability of producing 1 ton of flax straw was 11.6%. Flax fiber and fabrics are supplied to 35 countries worldwide. Tatiana Yarema expressed gratitude for the assistance provided to the heads of Vitebskoblnefteprodukt and Vitebskoblagroservice.

For many years, the Dubrovno Flax Mill has been the industry leader. Speaking from the podium, its director Anatoly Bosenkov said that in addition to the enterprise, 5 farms grow flax in the district. According to the results of this year, for the first time, over 10 thousand tons of flax straw were harvested. Anatoly Bosenkov is confident that flax is a profitable crop. Profitability without subsidies was 18%, with premiums – over 50%. Agricultural producers need to work on product quality to maximize profits. For example, one ton of flax straw of grade 1.2 costs 4 thousand rubles, while grade 1 costs 2 thousand rubles.

While awarding the distinguished employees, the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, noted that it is always pleasant when the results in the Vitebsk region are better than in other regions of the country. The head of the region emphasized that the profitability of enterprises depends on their capacity utilization. Therefore, it is necessary to plan sowing areas to ensure the full capacity of flax mills. For 40 years, the quality of fiber has remained unchanged at grade 1.1; efforts should be made to reach grades 1.2-1.3, or even better – 1.4. Perhaps, to stimulate this, a formula similar to the one used in the dairy industry could be applied. When the "extra" grade was introduced for milk, many did not believe that such a

can be achieved. According to Nikolai Sherstnev, over time we will come to a unified system of production, processing and sale of products, which will reduce its cost. Nikolai Nikolaevich congratulated flax growers on their professional holiday and promised to increase assistance to the industry.

The winners of the regional competition were also congratulated by the chairman of the committee for agriculture and food of the regional executive committee Sergey Dogel, and the general director of RUP "Orsha Flax Mill" Vladimir Nesterenko.

Sergey Lyashuk. Photo by Dmitry Osipov. "Vitebskiye Vesti".