In the Vitebsk region, an additional 1.5 thousand people have been involved to assist agricultural workers during the sowing campaign. This was announced today by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, during a working trip to the Orsha district to address sowing issues, in response to a question from a BELTA correspondent.
"All organizational issues regarding staffing have been resolved. We have attracted about 1,000 additional people from cities, mainly machine operators, and involved about 500 people from educational institutions. These are young men who have driving licenses and are capable of operating machinery, and first-year students engaged in auxiliary work. They are all in place and working now," emphasized Nikolai Sherstnev.
The Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee noted that this year all districts of the Vitebsk region began sowing almost simultaneously, largely facilitated by the weather. As of April 5, 11% of the areas have been sown. A full range of work is being carried out. To achieve maximum yield in the autumn, strict adherence to technology is currently the key factor. "If we maintain it, we will get the maximum harvest. I have already spoken about this: the 30 centners per hectare that we are getting, and the 70-80 centners per hectare that we should be getting – this is precisely the difference that depends on technology. Therefore, we are urging everyone to adhere to it to the maximum and are trying to resolve all related issues," emphasized Nikolai Sherstnev.
Igor Isachenko, Chairman of the Orsha District Executive Committee, spoke about the progress of sowing in the Orsha district. Currently, sowing of spring crops, ploughing and harrowing of soil, fertilizing of winter crops, undersowing of perennial grasses, reseeding of winter crops that have perished, and other priority works are actively underway in the fields of all farms. Sowing rates are steadily increasing; as of April 5, 17.4% of spring crop areas have been sown. "Considering the provision of mineral fertilizers, seed material, personnel, and the high readiness of machinery, we are progressing quite well. If the weather holds, we will complete the spring sowing within 10-12 days," stated the head of the district.
This year, in the structure of sown areas in the Vitebsk region, grains and legumes will occupy 417.4 thousand hectares, cruciferous crops – 110.8 thousand hectares, and flax – 15 thousand hectares. 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.