Vitebsk region plans to increase flax sowing
Vitebsk region plans to increase flax sowing. This was announced today at a press conference dedicated to the regional festival "Dazhynki-2018" by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev.
"We clearly understand what needs to be done in the region's flax cultivation. In another year, we will reach areas of up to 17-18 thousand hectares, which will allow us to fully load the existing capacities," said Nikolai Sherstnev. According to him, the work on the development of the industry is currently being carried out in several directions related to the modernization of flax processing plants and the renewal of specialized equipment to ensure the technology of flax cultivation.
"In fact, we have one technologically advanced flax processing plant - Dubrovensky. In the Orshansky district, we will bring it to technological completion in 2019. All other flax processing plants are old, with significant equipment wear," the governor stated. "Next year, we will take a more serious approach to modernizing flax processing plants to replace components and elements of the lines."
Regarding the renewal of equipment, Nikolai Sherstnev noted that this year, approximately 190 units of specialized equipment for various purposes, from plowing to flax harvesting, have been acquired for almost all flax processing plants in the region. Thanks to this, the pace of crop harvesting in the Vitebsk region is significantly higher than last year.
"We harvested flax 2.5 times faster than last year, and threshed it twice as fast, which means it lay down earlier," emphasized the head of the region. As reported in the regional agricultural production department, this year the sown areas of flax in the Vitebsk region amounted to 14 thousand hectares. Due to weather conditions, 900 hectares of crops were lost. As of September 27, flax straw from 11.4 thousand hectares has been pressed in the region, which is more than double the level of last year.