13 August, Smolevichi District / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA/. This year's grain harvest in Belarus, excluding corn, is expected to be around 7 million tonnes. This was reported to the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko today by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Mikhail Rusy, a BELTA correspondent reports. According to Mikhail Rusy, state farms will harvest 6.8 million tonnes, while the population and farmers will yield about 600,000 tonnes. In total, approximately 7 million tonnes will be stored in granaries across all categories of farms. The harvesting of grain, excluding corn, in the republic is planned to be completed by next Wednesday. The pace of corn harvesting is also gradually increasing. The country's agricultural producers plan to obtain about 1 million tonnes of this crop, of which over 800,000 tonnes will be stored. As reported to the President, the overall corn harvest is quite good, however, there are losses due to weather conditions in the Gomel region and in some parts of the Mogilev region. In this regard, Alexander Lukashenko noted the need to explore options for assisting the affected districts to prevent a reduction in livestock numbers, as corn is used as feed. The Head of State was also informed about the progress of straw harvesting. Mikhail Rusy reported that 73% has already been harvested. At the same time, there is high demand for straw in Russia. Regarding potatoes, Mikhail Rusy stated that Belarusian agricultural producers expect a harvest of about 1 million tonnes from collective farms alone, excluding the population's yield. Next year, the sown areas for this crop are planned to be expanded to achieve a harvest of approximately 1.5 million tonnes. Attention will be paid not only to production but also to processing. The President was also briefed on the harvest prospects for other agricultural crops.-0-

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