MINSK, 30 March (BelTA) – Nikolai Leshik, head of the Crop Production Directorate of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, spoke about the country’s current crop structure priorities
on BelTA’s Nation Speaks project.
He noted that the primary tasks for agriculture remain ensuring food security and building a feed base for livestock. “The development of plant varieties is currently the most pressing issue,” Nikolai Leshik said. “The plant species itself remains the same, but the varieties being developed thanks to the National Academy of Sciences are now more resilient to adverse conditions.”
The new varieties now appearing in Belarusian fields were previously more heat-loving but have since adapted to a temperate climate. “These include the very same watermelons that have been grown in the republic for decades,” he explained. “There’s also a wide variety of berry crops. I assume our scientists keep working on it, and we can expect new crop varieties from them. As to forage crops, there have already been significant advances in the development of alfalfa varieties. Before this, we never even imagined that alfalfa seeds would be produced in our climatic conditions. But the fact is already there. We’ll refine the technology, and I think this will again be a new crop that will be in demand.”