Dedicated program on developing Gomel Oblast agriculture in order

GOMEL (BelTA) – It is necessary to put together an individual program on developing agriculture in Gomel Oblast. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the relevant statement as he met with Gomel Oblast's top officials and executives on 21 July, BelTA has learned.
The head of state noted that although Gomel Oblast's agricultural output has increased by several times in the last 25 years, the number of problems rivals that of Vitebsk Oblast. Aleksandr Lukashenko said he hopes Gomel Oblast Governor Gennady Solovei will turn things around. “I see how he is attached to land. Just don't forget that you have cities and an industrial sector. But well done in agriculture. It is necessary to decide what crops we should grow in Gomel Oblast, identify which crops will produce the greatest effect here,” the president said. “Agriculture should not be a loss-making branch of the economy. This is why we need to seriously think about it. Using Vitebsk Oblast as an example. We spent a lot of time, an entire year, working out this program over there. At last I approved it at the end of last year.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that agriculture in Gomel Oblast develops roughly in the same manner Vitebsk Oblast's does. There are processing enterprises with their own specific areas that supply raw materials. Some of the money earned by selling end products is invested in the development of agribusiness among other things.
“But we have to put together a concrete program. It will have certain peculiarities with regard to the cultivation of the crops that can grow well in these parts. We should step up amelioration efforts as one of the directions. We should think about how we are going to water vegetables, fruits, and the rest. Maybe even cereals, grass, and so on. It is necessary to work out an individual program on reviving the countryside in Gomel Oblast,” the president instructed.
“If we work out the program and turn things around in the next five-year term, Gomel Oblast will live. There will be no life here without the countryside, without land, without agriculture despite our giants, Gomselmash, BMZ, Mozyr Oil Refinery, and so on,” Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced.

Belarus news (BELTA)