6 November, Minsk /Tatyana Chumakova - BELTA/. In 2011, Belarus harvested 9.3 million tonnes of grain in bunker weight, including corn. This was announced today at a press conference by the First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of Belarus, Nadezhda Kotkovets, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. Of this amount, 1.5 million tonnes of corn grain were harvested. Overall, grain harvesting this year exceeded the 2010 level by 24%. Higher yields compared to last year were also achieved for sugar beet, and open and protected ground vegetables. In agricultural organisations, potato harvesting was 38% higher. Meat production this year is expected to exceed the 2010 level by 6%, reaching 1.5 million tonnes. Milk production is planned to increase to 6 million tonnes. According to Nadezhda Kotkovets, there are currently almost no loss-making agricultural organisations in the country. Work is constantly being carried out to increase procurement prices for milk, meat, and poultry. Enterprises of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food plan to export products worth $2.4-2.5 billion by the end of the year. Of this, food products worth over $2 billion have already been exported abroad. The positive foreign trade balance is expected to be maintained at the current level of $1.7 billion. Nadezhda Kotkovets noted that the export pricing policy for dairy products has been successful this year. -0-

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