Belarus to increase area under leguminous crops to 240,000ha next year

The area under leguminous crops is supposed to increase to 240,000 hectares in Belarus in 2024, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Vladimir Grakun at a press conference dedicated to Day of Workers of Agriculture and Processing Industry of Agribusiness.

Vladimir Grakun said: “We have harvested 12,000 tonnes of soybeans this year. We can grow this crop but we cannot get steady harvests every year. This is why we encourage agricultural enterprises to pay attention to traditional leguminous crops such as lupine, pea, and vetches. These crops can provide our communal herd with protein.”

The official underlined that a program is being implemented in the country, according to which the area under these leguminous crops will be increased to 240,000ha next year. “We will raise it further to the planned figure of 350,000ha a year later. It will allow harvesting at least 1 million tonnes of grain from leguminous crops,” he added.

The deputy agriculture and food minister also remarked that Belarus has had no problems with providing the population with domestic cereal crops – buckwheat and millet – for two years already. They are now made in sufficient amounts.