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Potato per-hectare yields to reach 30 tons this year, says deputy agriculture minister

Belarus will be able to export around 500,000 tons of vegetables this year, Deputy Agriculture Minister Vasil Pawlowski told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday, as quoted by BelaPAN.

Around 2.3 million tons of vegetables is to be produced this year; the domestic demand is estimated at 1.7 million tons.

The agriculture ministry also plans to produce more than 100,000 tons of greenhouse vegetables and export 18 to 20 percent of them to Russia.

As for the production of early potatoes, Mr. Pawlowski said that their yields were projected to total 30 tons per hectare at some agricultural enterprises. The deputy minister also said that the country was prepared to halt imports of agricultural equipment.

Farms bought only domestically produced combines for this year’s harvesting campaign, he said, noting that some 1,700 combines were purchased compared with between 1,300 and 1,500 in the previous several years.

Mr. Pawlowski praised Belarusian farm machinery, saying that some models of harvesters are similar to those made by leading international manufacturers.