"There is something to be proud of, but we must move on." This is what Lukashenko demands from agriculture

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April 16, Minsk . Farmers have something to be proud of, but the work of the agricultural industry needs to be made more sustainable, and its development progressive. This was stated by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting on rural development and increasing the efficiency of the agricultural sector, BELTA correspondent reports.

The current meeting, the Head of state noted, is a logical continuation of the practice of objective and systematic analysis of the state of affairs in specific sectors of the economy. This time on the agenda are issues of developing the agricultural sector, increasing the efficiency of its work and increasing its contribution to the total national income.

“The well-being of our people, foreign exchange earnings, the level of food security and, ultimately, socio-political stability in the country largely depend on the state of affairs in the countryside. People must first of all be fed, clothed - in a word, live normally. Then there will be socio-economic stability. Agriculture largely contributes to this ,” Alexander Lukashenko emphasized. “In general, farmers have something to be proud of. Belarus is fully self-sufficient in the main types of food. IT significantly exceeds other CIS countries in the production of such products and consumption per capita.”
Thus, the supply of Milk is almost 270%, Meat - 135%, Sugar - more than 150%, potatoes - 112%.

In a number of positions, Belarus looks worthy in the world rankings. The country is one of the five countries exporting dairy products and the top 20 leading exporters of meat products, and these are the main agricultural products.

Domestic food is supplied to more than 107 countries around the world; foreign exchange earnings from its sales in 2023 amounted to almost $7.5 billion. “And this is despite a sharp drop in world prices,” the President noted.
“Today the task is to move on, to make the work of the agricultural industry more sustainable, and its development progressive. We have all the opportunities to achieve this,” the head of state is convinced. “We know how to do this. You see what a catastrophic food situation is developing in the world It is clear that the situation will only worsen due to population growth and the problems that affect the population in one or another region of the planet. I will repeat again: we need to forget about sanctions and other Western horror stories. But of course, they exist. forget. You know why. It is necessary to steadily expand the production and Export of products with high added value. To develop national brands, ahead of competitors, to conquer new product and geographical segments."

Therefore, the conversation during the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko warned, will be not so much about successes, but about existing problematic issues, the solution of which will allow us to achieve significantly higher indicators.

“Today our disposition is as follows. Based on the results of the previous year, 2023, in agricultural production we received a modest growth of just over 1% (and in crop production we fell by more than 1%, in livestock production - 4.5% plus). Taking into account that, how much has been invested in the village is more than modest,” the President emphasized.