Expert on the tasks of Belarusian farmers for this year and the strategy for the development of the agro-industrial complex

During the Address of the President to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly, the head of state stressed that today Belarus has sufficient production, technical and export potential, and that the national economic system has shown its stability under the sanctions policy. Food exports last year for the first time brought in revenues of more than $8 billion, while expectations were $6 billion. Alexander Lukashenko instructed to ensure that all the tasks set were met at the level of last year or even surpassed it. Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor Natalya Kireenko spoke about these tasks and assessed Belarus' strategy in the agrarian sector.

The agro-industrial complex is one of the strategically important industries that performs the most important function for a person and society, namely, food supply, Natalya Kireenko noted. "Indeed, the results of 2022 confirmed the correctly chosen and implemented path for the development of agriculture in our country, which is primarily based on the efficient use of its internal resources. Accordingly, success was not long in coming," she said.

Over the past year, the harvest in Belarus amounted to more than 11 million tons of grain and rapeseed, the expert recalled. "Production volumes of potatoes and vegetables, sugar beets have increased quite a lot. The volume of milk production as our main export product has exceeded 7.8 million tons. At the same time, financial indicators have also grown - the profitability of sales of agricultural organizations is ensured at the level of 12.3%. All this and the price situation in the world market allowed us to get exports of agri-food products in the amount of $8.3 billion," Natalya Kireenko stated.

The role in this was played not only by the price situation, but also by an increase in the volume of deliveries, the specialist noted. “This suggests that exports have also increased due to the increase in production,” the expert said. “I would like to once again emphasize the words of the President that the economic sanctions against our country allowed us to stimulate production and economic activity. our enterprises, then new lines of assortment products appeared, new logistics routes for promoting products to foreign markets, the issue of training specialists in the field of international trade and marketing became more active.

As for the forecast for 2023, the key task of the agro-industrial complex remains to increase production volumes, since there are reserves, Natalya Kireenko noted. "First of all, this will be achieved by increasing crop yields and animal productivity. This will become the basis for ensuring domestic demand, the country's food security and fulfilling the export tasks that our agricultural industry faces," she said.

The expert also stressed that agriculture is an activity with serious risks. The main risk is the weather. “In order to level it, we must first of all comply with technological regulations, labor discipline. Weather conditions are one of the determining factors in production volumes, but, nevertheless, if weather conditions remain at the same level as last year, then the harvest can be sufficiently high. Due to science and compliance with technological regulations, we are aimed at fulfilling all the planned tasks," Natalya Kireenko concluded.

The agro-industrial complex of Belarus is faced with the task of not only producing import-substituting products, but also the issue of import independence, the specialist noted. "This is possible through the introduction of new innovative technologies for the production, storage and marketing of goods, the training of highly qualified specialists, which leads to an increase in the quality of life and an increase in the welfare of society. There are new opportunities in the agricultural direction - the transition to precision farming, the development of organic production, the expansion of fodder bases, the development of new competitive food products. Research is constantly being conducted to expand varieties and hybrids, improve the system of tillage," the expert said.

In her opinion, the strategy chosen in the agricultural sector is absolutely justified. “Since our main task here is to reduce the vulnerability of the economy to external market fluctuations and to maximize the use of internal reserves that are available in our country. The main task of our producers and exporters is to ensure the efficiency and competitiveness of products, which will allow us to maintain the level achieved in the field of food security and explore new areas.At the same time, as the head of state noted, we see the desire and capabilities of our population, as well as a decent human resources potential," the expert concluded.

BELTA.