December 2, Ivacevichi District / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko demands greater returns from agriculture. He stated this today during a working trip to the Ivacevichi District of Brest Region, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. "Today, we are entitled to push agriculture to yield greater returns," the President said. While visiting a dairy farm at SPC "Sviataya Volya", the head of state noted that he had not come simply to see how well this particular farm had been done. "We have invested considerable funds in agriculture. However, it has not yet, perhaps in any year, met the targets that were set. You have consistently fallen short by 1.5-2% of what you could have achieved," the President stated, while acknowledging that sometimes the targets set were slightly too high. At the same time, the head of state remarked: "You are unlikely to achieve 8%, but you should grow by 5.5-6% every year." Alexander Lukashenko has set a task for each farm to reconstruct and modernise one farm using its own funds in the coming year, incorporating modern production technologies. "Across the country, this amounts to approximately 1,200-1,300 farms," the President said. "This is one of the most important issues and a task for you (governors – BELTA Note) for the coming year. Those who fail to fulfil this task will no longer work as governors," Alexander Lukashenko warned. He noted that this does not mean building a large farm for 800 or 1,200 head of cattle. "Build one for 600," the head of state addressed the Governor of Brest Region, Konstantin Sumar. "I must have the lists on my desk. The State Control Committee and my assistants will inspect all these farms to ensure you do not include a farm that is already completed," the President said. "If we do not do this, we will be struggling with agriculture and farm modernisation for another ten five-year plans," the Belarusian leader emphasised. Speaking about the reconstruction and modernisation of farms, Alexander Lukashenko also noted that simplification should be avoided in this matter under no circumstances. In particular, as reported by Konstantin Sumar, reconstruction is underway at a number of facilities with the installation of milk pipelines. "Will it not turn out that, like the stingy who pays twice, we will opt for milk pipelines, only to have to demolish them in a year or two and build milking parlours?" the head of state expressed doubt.