On September 16, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. As of the morning of September 16, Belarusian farms have harvested potatoes from 18 thousand hectares, which is 35.4% of the total area to be harvested. This was reported to a BelTA correspondent by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. 360.9 thousand tons of potatoes have been dug with an average yield of 200.2 centners per hectare. Last year, the yield on the same date was lower and amounted to 181.8 centners per hectare. In terms of harvesting pace, agricultural organizations in the Mogilev region are leading, having harvested 43.3%. The Gomel region ranks second, where the crop has been dug on 37.8% of the planned area, and the Minsk region ranks third (37.2%). In the Vitebsk region, 34.1% has been harvested, in the Brest region - 30%, and in the Grodno region - 29.6%. The highest potato yield is in the farms of the Grodno region - 240.5 centners per hectare. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food believes that the potato harvest is likely to be higher than last year's. At the same time, the areas for planting the crop remained at the 2009 level. This year, potatoes are to be harvested from 51 thousand hectares.-0-

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