All districts of the Vitebsk region have joined the sowing campaign
All districts of the Vitebsk region have joined the sowing campaign. Gorodok and Rosson districts were the last to start spring sowing today, as reported by the Committee for Agriculture and Food of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.
The region's agricultural workers began soil preparation and the first field trips late last week with the onset of consistently warm weather. Large-scale agricultural work in the districts began this week. As of the morning of April 3, 9 thousand hectares of spring grains and legumes (4.4% of the plan) and 360 hectares of spring rapeseed (about 1%) have been sown in the region. Sowing of the latter crop has just begun. Braslav, Glubokoe, Tolochin, and Sharkovshchina districts were the first to undertake this work.
"The main efforts of the farmers are focused on sowing spring crops, which is planned to be completed within two weeks. The readiness of equipment (tractors) is over 90%, there are sufficient fuel reserves, and people have been mobilized. Everyone is set for productive and maximally efficient work," the regional agricultural committee emphasized.
This year, grains and legumes will occupy 417.4 thousand hectares, cruciferous crops - 110.8 thousand hectares, and flax - 15 thousand hectares within the sown areas of the Vitebsk region. The total sown area for all agricultural crops will be 788.3 thousand hectares. Taking into account the sown winter grains and winter rapeseed, and perennial grasses on arable land, it will be necessary to sow 400 thousand hectares of spring crops in the spring. According to preliminary forecasts, winter crops have passed the winter period quite well. Crop failure is expected within the average long-term values, not exceeding 10%, which will help avoid reseeding large areas and facilitate spring sowing for farmers.