14 July, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. In the first half of 2010, agricultural organisations in Belarus sold 609.2 thousand tonnes of livestock and poultry, which is 6.5% more compared to the same period last year, BELTA was informed by the National Statistical Committee. The largest growth was achieved in the farms of Gomel region - 14.2%. In two regions - Grodno and Mogilev - a decrease was observed (by 0.4% and 2.8% respectively). 67.9% of the sold livestock was supplied for processing to industrial enterprises and cold storage plants, 15.1% to subsidiary farms of agricultural organisations, and 6.2% to consumer cooperation societies with their own raw material processing facilities. 4.7% was sold to the public, including public catering, 4.9% at markets, and the remainder (1.2%) was sold through other distribution channels. Sales of livestock and poultry for slaughter at live weight across all categories of farms amounted to 679.2 thousand tonnes, which is 5.6% more than in the same period last year. The production (rearing) of livestock and poultry across all categories of farms increased by 7.7%. In the structure of production at live weight, cattle account for 45.1%, pigs - 30.1%, and poultry - 24.8%. Milk production in agricultural organisations of Belarus in January-June of the current year increased by 4.2% to 2.9 million tonnes. This indicator was increased by all regions. The highest growth was achieved in the farms of Gomel and Brest regions - 7% and 5.7% respectively. The highest gross milk production figures were achieved in the farms of Minsk and Brest regions - 749.9 thousand tonnes and 573.4 thousand tonnes. Grodno region produced 442.4 thousand tonnes of milk, Gomel region - 419.8 thousand tonnes, Vitebsk region - 392.4 thousand tonnes, and Mogilev region - 360.9 thousand tonnes. In farms of all categories in Belarus, 3.4 million tonnes of milk were produced, which is 1.7% more than in the same period of 2009. 2.5 million tonnes of milk were sold through all distribution channels, or 83.9% of the total production volume. -0-

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