OREANDA-NEWS. August 28, 2008. The grain harvest has been completed in Belarus, as was told in the main plant growing department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Belarus has cropped 2.3 million hectares. Now agricultural companies are getting down to harvesting buckwheat and millet.

The grain harvest in Belarus has made up 8,927.600 tonnes, up 1,580.800 tonnes from last year. This is a record-high harvest in the history of independent Belarus.

The Minsk oblast is the leader of the grain harvest campaign with 2,301.032 tonnes, up 339,059 tonnes over last year. The Grodno oblast has gathered in 1,732.053 tonnes (up 501,027 tonnes), the Mogilev oblast 1,371.012 tonnes (up 161,067 tonnes), the Brest oblast 1,310.029 tonnes (up 357,008 tonnes), and the Gomel oblast 1,122.087 tonnes (up 249,005 tonnes). The harvest in the Vitebsk oblast has approached 1,089.005 tonnes as against 1,118.048 tonnes last year. With the harvest campaign still underway, the oblast is set to outperform last year’s figures.

The grain harvest including corn in the agricultural companies of all categories will amount to 9.3 million tonnes, informs the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The average yield countrywide has made up 38.8 centners/hectare as against 30.8 centners/hectare last year. The Grodno and Mogilev oblast has had the highest yield: 50.5 centners/hectare and 40.3 centners/hectare respectively. These are 13.6 centners and 5.5 centners up from last year.

The farmers are now completing the harvest with 30% of the areas remaining to be cropped. The harvest has so far made up 77,700 tonnes, the average yield reaching 34.9 centners/hectare.