1. What is the economic and social development of Belarus connected with? 2. What can you say about the climate of our Republic? 3. Why must farmers apply fertilisers? 4. Why have many hectares of land been excluded from land utilisation? 5. What are the main problems in agriculture of our Republic? 6. What kinds of agricultural enterprises can you name? 7. Why is the structure of the cultivated area in Belarus changing today? 8. What are the main agricultural products in Belarus? 9. What products is Belarus self-sufficient in? 10. Is animal husbandry a well-developed branch of agriculture? 11. What is the basic purpose of the national agrarian policy?
Ex. 8. Retell the text using the plan below:
1. Geographical position and climate.
2. Rural population.
3. General characteristics of the agricultural area.
4. Arable crops and the main agricultural products.
5. Development of animal husbandry.
6. Forms of production organisation.
TEXT B
Record Breaking Harvest
Addressing the food problem, Belarus places emphasis on the stable production of raw materials and sustainable development of the agricultural industry. Belarus strategy in agriculture aims to ensure food provision at the level sufficient for a well-balanced healthy diet, to make foodstuffs affordable to all social groups of the society, protect the interest of domestic commodity producers and to promote export of foodstuffs and agricultural raw materials.
Elements of Success
In terms of the per capita production of essential agricultural products, apart from grain, Belarus ranks the first among the CIS member states. In meat production the country has come up close to Germany, in milk production the country is ahead of the major agricultural economies.
The latest technologies and scientific developments are introduced effectively into production. Belarusian scientists have created new varieties of agricultural crops that do not yield to foreign analogues in the potential. The tests have proved that the genetic yield potential of grain crops exceeds 100 centners per hectare, that of potatoes of 500 centners per hectare. So far these indices remain a benchmark for the majority of agricultural producers.. But the industry will be approaching these standards as the plant cultivation sector will be optimised, the biological requirements of plants during the vegetation period will be fully met. This process will be gradually intensified as the technological, technical and organizational problems are settled.
Soil fertility has been improved as the agricultural industry has started applying integrated systems of plant protection and using scientifically substantiated standards of fertilizer and lime application.
Belarusian producers have started manufacturing new farm vehicles and equipment. The domestic hardware is inferior to similar foreign equipment in terms of reliability and operation performance, but is much cheaper, though the prices have been going up recently. For example, the most modest estimates show that the harvest campaign was one week longer and three centers of grain and oil seeds were lost per one hectare due to poor reliability of indigenous grain harvesters and untimely maintenance service.
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The efforts are invested into specialization, adjustment of the structure of the cultivated areas with the preference given to intensive and cost-effective crops.
Tomorrows reference points
As cattle breeding is the main sector of the countrys agricultural industry, cost-effective feedstuff production is needed for manufacturing competitive products. More attention should be paid to the production of leguminous plants.
More proteins are needed for boosting the production of milk and meat. As soy and sunflower oil feeds are extremely pricy, the manufacture of proteins will be enhanced by means of increasing the production of leguminous plants and rapeseeds.
Corn production will be in focus too. However, Belarus needs to improve the corn cultivation methods.
Summer pasture forage is crucial for making cheap meat and diary products. Unfortunately, the demand for highly productive pastures is met only at 25-30 %. In order to increase their areas the system of cultivation of perennial grass seeds should be restored. The natural pastures especially in flood plains are used ineffectively in meat cattle breeding.
In order to achieve these goals it is imperative to continue supplying the agricultural industry with power intensive tractors and wide-cut soil-tillage equipment, including highly-effective integrated soil tillage and seeding equipment. There is a lack of self-propelled spraying machines, which are needed to make preharvest and especially plant protection works more efficient.
The solution to these problems will allow speeding up field works, making them more efficient, gathering the harvest without losses which will undoubtedly, bear well on the yield of agricultural crops.
