Will Belarus be left without potatoes? We asked the Ministry of Agriculture whether the fears of the fugitives will be justified

November 22, Minsk . Amazing "observation" from abroad: Belarus has started planting fewer potatoes. We are about to stop being Potato Bulbashs! Perhaps, in the dreams of the fugitives, we are already even called John Barleycorn in the American manner. We asked the Ministry of Agriculture: were we too hasty in putting an end to our national brand? What an encroachment on the sacred!
Belstat reassures us: for the last five years, every Belarusian has been eating approximately the same amount of potatoes per year on average - 56-59 kg. And in this indicator, we continue to occupy first place in the world. So we still deserve the title of Potato Bulbashs. But on November 17, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko said that this year they really planted less potatoes than last year. However, he immediately explained why:

- The demand in previous years showed that so much is not needed.

Of course, the anti-government activists predictably ignored the explanatory part of the Deputy Prime Minister's speech. It is not to their advantage to show Belarusian officials as practical people, not divorced from life and thinking about the future - you can't hang the image of enemies of their own people on them. Oh well. We know that in Belarus, plans in all areas are drawn up taking into account the real state of affairs. The same is true for potatoes: in 2024 , its expected production will amount to about 909 thousand tons - we simply do not need more. Or do we?

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food dots the i's: there is such an economic indicator - the level of self-sufficiency in specific products. For example, for milk in our country it is 283%, for meat - 135%, for potatoes - 110.8%.

- Analysis has shown that the volumes of agricultural production in general exceed the needs of trade, - the Ministry of Agriculture and Food notes. - So, the share of its annual need in the total volume of production, including stabilization funds, is: onions - 98%, white cabbage - 44%, potatoes - 10%.

By the way, this year it is planned to put 121.1 thousand tons of fresh produce into the stabilization funds, including 46.9 thousand tons of potatoes. Also, agricultural organizations and other enterprises have their own storage facilities, where a total of more than 1 million tons of vegetables and fruits are stored practically until the new harvest .

Where do the remaining thousands of tons of potatoes disappear to? They are sold abroad. Most often - to Russia, where they will be happy to fry, boil or process them into chips - which tubers are lucky. This year, the export potential of the potato crop was estimated at 300 thousand tons, so we can still make good money on it. However, the zmagars are unlikely to be able to try the "smakata" from the potatoes - they have not reached the host countries.

Alexey GORBUNOV,
newspaper "7 days".