May 18, 2012

Belarus boosting milk, meat output

Belarusian companies are augmenting their milk and meat production, Vasil Kazakevich, deputy minister of agriculture and food, told reporters in Minsk on Thursday (May 17).

Belarus' output of milk increased by 7.8% on-year in the first four months of 2012, while the production of beef and poultry meat rose by 8.6%, Kazakevich said.

The development of agriculture is a key priority for the government, which plans to implement 18 programmes in the sector before the end of 2015, including four animal farming programmes, he said. One of the programmes provides for modernising about 1,200 dairy farms this year and building 875 new farms, Kazakevich said.

As much as two million tonnes of milk was produced in Belarus in the first four months of 2012, with 1.7 million tonnes being supplied to processing companies, he said. Belarus accounts for about 1% of the world's output of milk and ranks among the 20 largest exporters of a number of dairy products, he said.

Beef production is also a priority for the Belarusian government, he said, adding that 388 companies in Belarus raise beef cattle. Kazakevich pointed to poultry farming as the fastest-growing branch of the nation's agricultural sector. Belarus' output of poultry meat was nearly 400,000 tonnes last year. As much as 152,000 tonnes of poultry meat was produced in the first four months of 2012, he said.