Vitebsk is hosting the regional festival-fair of agricultural workers "Dazhynki-2020" on a grand scale
The festival began with laying wreaths and flowers at the monument to the liberator soldiers. Then, a spectacular water show by the Ministry of Emergency Situations took place in the Western Dvina waters, involving five helicopters, jet skis, special motorboats, and fire trucks. An exhibition of imported and domestic agricultural machinery was held at Victory Square, including units produced by Vitebsk region enterprises.
A festive procession of many thousands walked from Victory Square along Lenin Street to the Summer Amphitheater. Along the entire route, the harvest leaders and guests were greeted by the residents of Vitebsk. Flags of the cities and districts of the Vitebsk region fluttered on the flagpoles of the main venue of the "Slavianski Bazaar," where state symbols of the participating countries are displayed during the festival days.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, Vladimir Andreichenko, read out the greeting from the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. A letter of gratitude from the Head of State was presented to the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, for many years of fruitful work, high professionalism, and significant personal contribution to the development of the agro-industrial complex.
Before awarding the frontrunners, the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, noted that the current agricultural year has been more successful for farmers than previous ones. The farming culture is consistently improving, more attention is paid to crop care, and the responsibility of managers and specialists towards crop cultivation technology is increasing. The weather also helped at the start of the harvest formation. As a result, the total weight of the Vitebsk region's harvest was 1 million 77 thousand tons of grain, with an average yield of 31.1 centners per hectare. It is worth noting that a quarter of the harvest comes from the Orsha and Vitebsk districts. The Tolochin (87 thousand tons) and Dubrovno (74 thousand tons) districts made a significant contribution to the overall harvest. It is important to emphasize that over 60% (622 thousand tons) of the total harvest was formed by agro-industrial associations. The results of consistently operating farms are pleasing: "Khotily-Agro" (73 centners/ha) of Postavy district, "Larinovka" (72 centners/ha) of Orsha district, Tolochin Cannery (62 centners/ha), "MazolovoGaz" (52 centners/ha) of Vitebsk district, "Goryany-Agro" (51 centners/ha) of Polotsk district. The gross harvest of Vitebsk Broiler Poultry Factory amounted to over 52 thousand tons (yield - 48 centners/ha), a figure that surpasses fourteen districts of the region.
1172 crews worked on the harvest, including 173 youth crews and 55 family crews. Over a thousand tons were harvested by 401 crews. The mark of 2 thousand tons was surpassed by forty-four crews, and 3 thousand tons were overcome by eleven crews. Vladislav Laptinsky from "Mezhevo-Agro" of Orsha district harvested 4541 tons, Vasily Kosov from "Shaiterovo" of Verkhnedvinsk district harvested 4121 tons. The absolute record of this year's harvest - 5252 tons - was set by the family team of Alexander and Andrey Komarov from "Zadneprovsky" of Orsha district. With a slight lag, Leonid Alekseenko and Sergey Kolbasov from "Zaozerie" of Lepel district finished the harvest with 5000 tons.
Outlining future plans, Nikolai Sherstnev said that it is necessary to modernize the industry, enhance its image, introduce fundamentally new management approaches, and more widely disseminate the experience of successful organizations. Today, emphasis should be placed on increasing labor productivity in crop production through the use of modern high-performance equipment.
The number of those recognized for their labor was not limited to the list of the regional competition. Awards from the legislative body were presented by Vladimir Andreichenko, from the Council of Ministers – by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Subbotin, from the Presidential Administration – by Assistant to the President of the Republic of Belarus – Inspector for the Vitebsk Region Anatoly Linevich, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food – by Deputy Minister Igor Brylo.
