OREANDA-NEWS. On 14 August 2009 was announced, that the Belarusian agricultural industry will definitely reach world-level standards, President Alexander Lukashenko said during his tour of the Brest Region.

The Head of State visited the Beldan limited liability company, a Belarusian-Danish agricultural producer, in the Lyakhovichi district, Brest Region.

The President surveyed the progress made in the harvest campaign in the region and throughout the country. The Head of State was informed that a total of 39 per cent of the area under crop had been harvested, over 3.6 million tonnes of grain produced; the average crop yield was more than 39 centners per hectare. This year all regions of Belarus are expected to produce grain to the excess of 1 million tonnes each. Experts say that the average crop yield will be 3 centners per hectare more than it was last year. The fleet of harvesters has been renovated, and, although the number of harvesters has decreased, the aggregate harvesting capacity has remained the same as it was last year.

Alexander Lukashenko said that the emphasis in the harvest campaign should be made on speed and quality. ‘The critical things today are speed and quality, because if we again face such a period of rains as we did recently, it will be next to impossible to have the crop yield of 35-40 centners per hectare,’ said the Head of State.

On the rural revival programme, Alexander Lukashenko said that, just like the healthcare programme, it would not be stopped or otherwise affected because of the world crisis. ‘It means that we will not be winding up anything in this respect,’ he explained.

The Head of State underscored the importance of food security for Belarus, which does not only ensure the stability of the national economy, but also makes it possible to promote Belarusian goods in foreign markets.

According to estimates of the various European companies involved in agriculture and operating in the Western and Eastern Europe, Beldan is the best company in Europe today in terms of the quality of construction and technology.

Today Belarusian producers have a great opportunity to master the best European technologies and implement them at home, said the Head of State.

Alexander Lukashenko said he had very good impressions of what he had seen at the company. Such complexes should be built all across Belarus, he said.

‘This is an example to follow. We should determine how many complexes we need in the regions and gradually renovate the old ones and build similar modern complexes. There is no need to re-invent anything; we are adopting the technologies that are already being used. We need to take them in Europe,’ said Alexander Lukashenko. He added that this one of the positive effects of the world crisis which prompts Europeans to explore new regions for their business.

‘Holland and Denmark are countries with high ecological standards and the best technologies. Now we have the most advanced pig farms, and running these pilot projects, we have learned how to build, how to create new structures. In this way we will be rebuilding the entire agricultural industry of our country,’ said the Head of State.

By 1 January 2010, the nation’s construction industry will have fully adopted European standards, he said. ‘I am convinced that from 2011 we will have the same construction standards as in Europe,’ he said.

Alexander Lukashenko has added that one should also remember about the social responsibility of business. ‘This is the main idea behind the development of rural regions and the agricultural industry,’ he said. Beldan fully meets these requirements, the President added.