The Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee initiates the creation of an agronomy faculty at the Vitebsk Veterinary Academy

August 30, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee is initiating the creation of an agronomy faculty at the Vitebsk Academy of Veterinary Medicine, the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Agriculture and Food Committee informed a BELTA correspondent. The need to open a new specialty is due to an acute shortage of highly qualified agronomic personnel in the region. According to the regional agricultural department, farms need 26 agronomists, including a shortage of 14 chief agronomists. In general, the staff shortage in agricultural enterprises amounts to more than 200 specialists in industry services. At the same time, only 60% of employees have higher education, and in districts such as Sharkovshchyna, Rossono, and Ushachi, no more than 40%. The intensification of agricultural production, its technical and technological re-equipment, and the transition to science-intensive, resource-saving technologies impose increased demands on the personnel. To address the issue of providing agricultural organizations in the region with highly qualified agronomic personnel, the regional executive committee proposes to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to open an agronomy faculty at the veterinary academy starting September 1, 2011, with an annual intake of 40-50 students. According to Anton Yatusevich, Rector of the Vitebsk State Academy of Veterinary Medicine, the university has a sufficient educational base for opening a new specialty. Future veterinarians and zootechnicians, as well as agronomists, study botany and fodder cultivation technology. In addition, the Luzhesnyan Agrarian College, which is part of the academy, trains agronomists with secondary vocational education. In this regard, according to the rector, it would be economically feasible to open a new specialty with a reduced training period for specialists with secondary vocational education. -0-