Homiel region officials given dressing down over farms’ poor performance

November 25, BPN. Homiel region farms missed out on about 100 million rubels (about $41 million) in profits because of inefficiency, Alaksandr Łukašenka told officials during his tour of the region.

The region lagged behind all others in grain production, he noted.

“[You have] nothing to be proud of,” Łukašenka said. “We have reached a million-ton milestone here only with corn. And what about meat or milk? The whole country is moving forward, while you lag behind.”

Belarus would have achieved the projected four-percent growth in agriculture if the region reached at least the last year’s levels, he said.

Over the past five years, the region’s agricultural production dropped by more than 13 percent, although the country as a whole posted a four-percent increase, Łukašenka noted.

Almost all inspected farms had livestock farming issues; one in three farms did not follow green forage ensiling and storage techniques; and one in four farms understated livestock mortality, he said.