Farms in Belarus are completing potato planting

May 14, Minsk / Olga Belyavskaya - BELTA /. Belarusian farms are completing potato planting. This crop has been planted on 49.4 thousand hectares, or 94% of the plan, the main department of crop production of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food told a BELTA correspondent. Potato planting has already been completed in the Grodno and Mogilev regions. In the Gomel region, 99.2% of the planned area has been planted, and in the Brest region, 98%. In the Vitebsk and Minsk regions, potato planting has been slowed down by rains: 12% and 14% of the planned area remain respectively. "We planned to complete potato planting at the beginning of the current week, but due to rainy weather, the sowing dates have been extended for several days," the Ministry of Agriculture and Food said. This year, it is planned to harvest 1.4 million tons of potatoes in agricultural organizations of Belarus, and 9.2 million tons in the republic as a whole. Sowing of leguminous crops continues. They occupy 148.4 thousand hectares, which is 88% of the plan. The Brest and Mogilev regions are leading in sowing rates, with 112% and 102% of the plan sown respectively. In the Vitebsk region, leguminous crops have been planted on 95% of the planned area, in the Gomel region - 94%, in the Minsk region - 69%, and in the Grodno region - 66%. Sowing of annual grasses is actively carried out in farms. They occupy 332 thousand hectares, or 148% of the plan. Top dressing of winter cereals is carried out again, and chemical weeding of spring cereals and leguminous crops is being performed. 35.6 million tons of organic fertilizers have been applied for spring sowing on an area of 632 thousand hectares. -0-