Republic
22.06.2007
The first hay cutting is nearing completion in Belarus. Minsk and Brest oblast farms have already completed it, BelTA learnt in the department for agriculture and crop growing of the Ministry for Agriculture and Foodstuffs of Belarus.
According to specialists, so far 1 million 423 thousand hectares of grass have been cut, which is 92.6% of the target.
Gomel and Grodno oblasts will have to cut 4.7% and 4.5% of grass respectively. Mogilev oblast has left 12% of uncut grass, Vitebsk oblast – 26%.
On the whole, 782 thousand tons of hay or 56% of the target have been stored in Belarus. Brest oblast outperformed the target by 6%. This year the volumes of stored haylage are twice as much as last year. By June 22, some 4.9 million tons of haylage had been stored (72% as against 35% last year). The biggest amount of haylage was stored in Minsk oblast – 84.5%.
Some 1 million 814 thousand tons of fodder or 34.5% of the annual target have been stored. This year Belarusian farms will have to store a total of 5.3 million tons of fodder. There are 6.5 centers of fodder units per cow, which is 3.7 centers more than last year. Vitebsk oblast is leading among other Belarusian regions in this index with 7.2 centers per cow stored.
The Ministry also informed that a total of 1,651 people are involved in fodder conservation. Vitebsk, Minsk and Mogilev oblasts have employed 691, 337 and 286 people respectively. As for technical equipment, Minsk oblast allocated 220 tractors, Mogilev oblast – 106 and Vitebsk oblast – 181 for this purpose.
About 18 thousand tons of grass were cut in water-meadows. The leaders here are agricultural companies of Minsk oblast which cut 7,178 tons of grass. Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev oblasts cut over 2,000 tons. Some 155.5 thousand hectares of hayfields and pastures were reseeded (55% of the target). Perennial grasses were sown on the territory of 429,000 hectares, which is 89.5% of the target. All the agricultural companies have the necessary supply of fertilizers.