Previously, 196 farms had started their work, with 200 planned. Those who did not sow last weekend are joining the campaign today. The prolonged spring has affected the pace of sowing. Last year, the main field work in the region started 5 days earlier. This time, sowing began on April 4. "The pace is also lower than last year due to weather conditions. A year ago, it was an early spring with less snow, and now we have snow, especially in the east. The soil has not dried out, and precipitation has been added. On Saturday, some districts did not sow due to snow and rain," the committee explained. Meanwhile, the sowing campaign is gaining momentum. Chašniki District leads in sowing early grain and leguminous crops with 63% of the plan, followed by Postavy District - 49%, Dokšytsy District - 37%, Hlybokaye District - 34%, Lepel District - 32%, and Polotsk District - 30%. Some districts have started sowing rapeseed. If the weather permits, the entire region will have sown early grain crops by the May holidays. The total sown area for spring crops will be 314 thousand hectares.
The region's agricultural producers are adapting to weather changes and revising the structure of sown areas. The grain crop rotation now allocates more land to winter crops. "Last year, the yield of winter wheat was 10 c/ha higher than spring wheat. The same applies to cruciferous crops. Our spring rapeseed yielded less than winter rapeseed, with a difference of about 5 c. We have expanded the areas for sowing winter grains, leaving very little for spring crops. The focus is on high-yielding crops," the regional agricultural committee clarified.
In the Vitebsk region, early grain crops have already been sown on an area of 31.3 thousand hectares, which is 29% of the planned area.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by