The State Institution "Belvodkhoz" found out what the country's melioration complex is today

At a recent meeting on improving the efficiency of the agricultural sector, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko emphasized the importance of restoring reclaimed lands. And this is no coincidence. After all, our country not only ensures its own food security, but is also one of the world's top five exporters of dry milk, butter and cheese. It is the land reclamation workers who provide agriculture with a reliable feed base who are today able to help the industry maintain its position on the world market and keep store shelves full. What is the country's land reclamation complex today? What concerns does it live by and what contribution does it make to the country's economy? How much reclaimed land do we have? Here is what the State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz", the leading organization of the complex, had to say about this. A hectare reclaimed from swamps - Reclaimed lands in the country occupy 35% of agricultural land. And this is no more and no less than 2.810 million hectares reclaimed from swamps. Of these, 1.48 million hectares are used for arable land and 1.3 million hectares for meadows and pastures, - Ivan Lazovsky, chief engineer of the State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz", cited important statistics. - At the same time, what is characteristic is that more than 58% of meadow grasses grow precisely on such cultivated reclaimed lands, which are available in almost all regions of Belarus, and in 23% of regions they make up more than half of the agricultural lands in circulation! Of course, there are more of them than others in the Polesie region - Pinsk, Lyuban, Stolin, Ivatsevichi, Luninets, Ivanovo, Soligorsk and other regions.


Large-scale melioration, which started in Belarus after the famous May plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1966, has greatly changed the life and economy of the country.

- To be convinced of this, it is worth visiting the melioration museum PMK-19 in Zhabinka district. Look at the photos of the life of a Belarusian village before the draining of the swamps and compare them with how farmers live now. These are two big differences. The village has become several orders of magnitude richer, more prosperous, living conditions have changed significantly, - emphasizes Ivan Lazovsky. - At the same time, it should be taken into account that the agricultural sector has increased the volume of food production by an order of magnitude. With the support of the state, we have managed to preserve the melioration system built under the Soviet Union in sovereign Belarus and make it more technically advanced and reliable. Thanks to melioration, which is a complex set of interconnected structures - canals, locks, pumping stations, hydraulic engineering and crossings, and other structures, our country was able to lay a serious foundation for forage production for many years.
- The scale of the melioration complex is truly impressive: 156 thousand km of canals, 1 million km of drainage designed to lower the level of groundwater, 3.2 thousand bridges, 2.2 thousand sluice gates, 24.8 thousand pipes-crossings over watercourses, - Ivan Lazovsky draws attention to the truly gigantic scale of the ramified economy, covering, in fact, the entire territory of the country.  
In the most flood-prone areas, where periodically flooded river floodplains are located, about 540 pumping stations designed for pumping water have been built. They play an important role in creating a favorable operating mode on agricultural lands on an area of ​​289 thousand hectares. These lands have been reclaimed and reliably protected from floods by dams. Effective agricultural production is carried out there. At the same time, pumping stations and dams provide engineering protection from floods to a number of settlements in the Polesie region. We protected cities and villages and provided the country with fish - Such engineering protection from flooding is available in rural settlements, agro-towns, located mainly in the floodplain of the Pripyat River - Khotomel, Tereblichi, Olgomel, Stolin district, and other cities and villages. In particular, David-Gorodok, which was previously flooded, is now also protected by a complex of structures with pumping stations and large hydraulic structures, dams. But such protective projects were implemented precisely thanks to land reclamation, which has been carried out all these years with enormous support from the state! The structure of iconic land reclamation facilities also includes 16 of the country's largest reservoirs, built during the Soviet era , with a useful water volume of more than 15 million cubic meters. They are designed to accumulate, preserve and subsequently use water reserves in the national economy. Among the largest are Selets, Krasnoslobodskoye, Loktyshi, Soligorsk, Lyubanskoye, Zelvenskoye, Pogost and others. At the same time, pond farming has been built at some reservoirs, which is intended to provide the country with freshwater fish. - That is, thanks to melioration, another serious industry has appeared in Belarus - fish farming, - emphasizes Ivan Lazovsky. - In total, about 960 ponds and reservoirs have been built under melioration projects! Drainage melioration was mainly carried out in the country. Of the 2.80 million reclaimed lands, on an area of ​​750 thousand hectares, melioration systems can preserve and retain moisture. The remaining systems operate on discharge. Melioration systems with a guaranteed water source have been built on 180 thousand hectares. In unfavorable periods, water can be supplied to them from reservoirs, ponds, and rivers, that is, the water supply can be regulated by 10%. Two levels of responsibility

 


 

The operation of the entire truly huge complex of hydraulic structures and drainage systems, covering almost all regions of Belarus, is carried out by organizations of republican and municipal forms of ownership. Financial resources for these purposes are allocated by the state.
Today, there are 132 specialized drainage organizations in the country. Some of them are municipal. Among them are regional organizations, such as the State Enterprise "Brestmeliovodkhoz" (similar in Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Minsk), as well as the OJSC "Management Company Mogilevvodstroy" - they are responsible for the construction and operation of drainage systems in the regions. At the same time, in almost every district of the region, these organizations have their own construction and operation organizations. They are not present only in 22 districts, where the operation of drainage systems is handled by 11 production sites. Where there are no such sites, the organization of one of the districts services the territories of neighbors. For example, the area of ​​responsibility of Dyatlovskaya is its own district and also Korelichi.
The State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz" is responsible for planning, implementing the strategy and tactics of the industry on a national scale. While all regional and district municipal melioration organizations are involved in servicing melioration systems, the republican organizations, including two trusts, are focused primarily on their construction. Since the Polesie region is the most flood-prone, the structure of the State Enterprise also includes two construction organizations - RUP "Kalinkovichivodstroy" and OAO "Pinskvodstroy", which have extensive experience in the construction of engineering structures for flood protection. The State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz" has another important competitive advantage: it includes two large design and survey organizations - RUP "Belgiprovodkhoz" and OOO "Polesiegiprovodkhoz".

- Their task is to prepare melioration projects, geological, hydrological, soil surveys, prepare calculations and design structures, - the interlocutor specifies. - By the way, both design and survey organizations are doing an excellent job of designing objects in other industries as well. So, fellow farmers, seek help from melioration designers. High quality design and survey work is guaranteed by many years of experience.

The State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz" conducts annual surveys of melioration systems.

- Local organizations, of course, cope with the entire front of their work, but the State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz" plans these works in advance at the expense of the republican budget, allocates the received funds, and selects an organization to carry them out by competition. After the projects are completed, technical supervision specialists evaluate the quality and carry out their acceptance. Strict control is exercised over the correct use of state funds, one of the forms of which is constant cross-checking of the implementation of all projects for the construction and maintenance of melioration systems, - Ivan Lazovsky clarifies.
A new turn - for the better

The turning point in the history of Belarusian land reclamation was 2023.
- It happened when President Alexander Lukashenko paid special attention to the problems of the industry - we began to work with greater optimism! - emphasizes the chief engineer of the State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz". - When funding increased, the volume of land reclamation work increased. Salaries increased - the outflow of specialists stopped. We also grew in number. In 2023, 390 people came to us, of which 246 were excavator and loader operators, bulldozer operators, and car drivers. Today, 9.8 thousand people work in 132 specialized organizations of the land reclamation complex system. And yet, the system is experiencing a personnel shortage. There is a shortage of masters, foremen, engineering and technical workers. But we are trying to make up for this shortage. All heads of organizations work with universities and colleges that train specialized specialists for us, interview their graduates, and work to popularize melioration professions.
Today, the industry is on the rise.
- The fleet of available equipment allows us to solve most of the problems we face! - Ivan Lazovsky is confident and cites the following statistics: - At the beginning of 2024 , the complex had 7.2 thousand units of equipment, including 962 single-bucket excavators, 102 multi-bucket excavators, which are used for laying drainage. Such excavators are produced by only one enterprise in the territory of the former USSR - the Kokhanovsky Excavator Plant, part of Amkodor OJSC.

In addition, the fleet of the complex's enterprises includes 480 bulldozers, 1,300 tractors, 1,049 trucks, 120 canal cleaners, more than 3 thousand units of trailed and mounted equipment.

- According to calculations, we need to annually update our fleet of 700 units of equipment, - specifies the chief engineer of the State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz".

With state support
- Here the state has lent us a shoulder, - says Ivan Lazovsky. - Land reclamation organizations have entered the State Program "Agricultural Business", within the framework of which the technical re-equipment of agricultural enterprises is also carried out, because we are an integral part of the domestic agriculture of Belarus.
Thus, in 2023, land reclamation organizations managed to acquire more than 700 units of equipment through various sources of financing - mainly through leasing, as well as through budget and own funds. These include single-bucket excavators, bulldozers, loaders, tractors, trucks, etc.

- We are focused on the operation and reconstruction of existing land reclamation systems. We ensure that what is left of the Soviet Union is maintained in working condition: we implement projects to reconstruct land reclamation systems that require updating, - says the chief engineer of the State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz" and specifies: 
- Today, there is no large-scale reclamation of new lands in the country. Spot new reclamation is planned only in those areas and farms where there are highly fertile lands, high production culture, and the need to create a feed base for livestock. Thus, in 2020-2023, new reclamation was carried out only on an area of ​​4.6 thousand hectares.
The introduction of 110 thousand hectares of reclaimed land in the country is planned for 2024.

- On an area of ​​61.2 thousand hectares, we plan to reconstruct reclaimed systems, and on another 48.8 thousand hectares - cultural and technical reclamation. By the way, such projects, providing for the removal of shrubs and excess vegetation on reclaimed lands, were already actively implemented last year. Now it is planned to involve our personnel and equipment in the removal of shrubs and excess vegetation on other - non-reclaimed lands, and, on the instructions of the head of state, it is planned to carry out work by agricultural organizations. The country needs to put overgrown agricultural and floodplain lands into circulation, - emphasized the chief engineer of the State Enterprise "Belvodkhoz" Ivan Lazovsky at the end of the conversation.
Happy professional holiday – Land Reclamation Worker’s Day!
On the first Sunday of June, the country traditionally celebrates Land Reclamation Worker’s Day.
I sincerely congratulate the many thousands of land reclamation workers of Belarus on the upcoming holiday!
I wish you, dear colleagues, good health, success in your work, well-being, and a good mood!

I also wish all of us peace, order, comfort, and happiness on our land, in our country, and in our families!
Sincerely, Ivan Lazovsky, Chief Engineer of the State Enterprise “Belvodkhoz”

Reclaimed lands in the country account for 35% of agricultural land.
Tamara MARKINA, photo – BELTA and from the archive of the State Enterprise “Belvodkhoz”