Vitebsk region switches to industrial milk production in 2013
In 2013, the Vitebsk region will transition to industrial milk production. This was announced by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Kosinets, at a session of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies, where the socio-economic development forecast for the region was discussed, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
Next year, agricultural enterprises of the region will abandon the traditional seasonal transfer of cattle to pasture and switch to free-stall housing for the dairy herd. This will be possible due to the implementation of a program for the reconstruction of old and construction of new dairy farms and complexes, as well as the development of the feed base.
Reconstruction and construction work is underway at 476 sites. In 2012, 228 dairy farms were updated with modern milking parlors and robotic milking systems, three new dairy farms were commissioned, and another 24 are to be built within the next two years. It is planned to install 102 arched structures with tent coverings.
According to Alexander Kosinets, the region has achieved an optimal ratio of sown areas: 500 hectares are allocated for grain, 100 thousand hectares each for rapeseed and corn, 20 thousand hectares for flax, another 30 thousand hectares are allocated for crops for protein raw materials for the compound feed industry, and over 100 hectares are allocated for clover. Over the last three years, the contour of fields has increased from 3.9 hectares to 11 hectares.
In 2013, the region plans to produce 1.5 million tons of grain, 15 thousand tons of flax fiber, 150 thousand tons of rapeseed, 100 thousand tons of potatoes, 940 thousand tons of milk, 402 million eggs, and sell 228 thousand tons of livestock and poultry.