Vitebsk pensioners and vacationers help villagers harvest crops

The Vitebsk employment center sends about 70 people daily to help villagers, the Vitebsk City Executive Committee's Department of Labor, Employment and Social Protection informed a BELTA correspondent.

The labor contingent includes pensioners, people on vacation, and the unemployed. "This form of employment is popular among Vitebsk residents who have free time. By helping villagers harvest crops, one can earn from 50 to 90 thousand rubles a day, and in addition, bring back several kilograms of vegetables from each such trip – farms partially pay temporary workers with produce. Over the season, it is easy to provide a family with vegetables and fruits for the entire winter," the employment service emphasized.

The department sends workers to farms in the Vitebsk and Gorodok districts. OJSCs "Lipovtsy", "Vozrozhdenie", "Rudakovo", SPC "Olgovskoye", KUSKhP "Severny", as well as RUP "Vitebsk Zonal Institute of Agriculture of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus" willingly use the help of townspeople. These enterprises cultivate large quantities of beets, carrots, cabbage, and potatoes, which townspeople help to harvest. In addition, additional labor is used at livestock complexes and for clearing sown areas of stones.

The employment center receives applications from the Luzhesnyanskaya Variety Testing Station annually. Additional labor is involved in harvesting apples and pears. Up to 15 townspeople work in the garden daily.

The harvest season for main vegetables and fruits in the Vitebsk region has just begun. Its peak traditionally falls in late August - September. During this period, the city employment center will send up to 150 people a day to help villagers.