Republic

MINSK, 26 January (BelTA) – The export potential for the Belarusian agricultural produce is estimated at $7 billion, Director General of the NASB Center of Farming Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Fyodor Privalov told reporters on 25 January. In 2010 the Agriculture and Food Ministry sold abroad $2.2 billion worth of products, up 1.5 times from 2009. “Livestock product, i.e. meat and dairy, makes up the bulk of the export,” Fyodor Privalov said. At the same time crop products have been gaining more competitive power on the foreign market, he believes. Belarus has already made itself known as the leading producer of elite cereal seeds. High results have been achieved in the area of genetics and agricultural plant breeding. Over the last five years Belarusian scientists have bred 170 new plants and made 66 engineering developments. Over the period under review 57 applications for the grant of a patent have been submitted. There have been granted 143 protection documents, 51 patents for plant breeds and 63 inventor’s certificates. Belarusian developments have been numerously awarded at the international exhibitions. The share of Belarusian agricultural plants increases every year. In 2010 it exceeded 75% of the country’s sowing area. According to Fyodor Privalov, 82 Belarusian varieties are used for cultivation in the EU countries and are included into the national registers of Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Germany. Fyodor Privalov named the most important developments of the Belarusian center. Among them are the country’s self-sufficiency in wheat and brewer’s barley, the development of corn, rape and triticale seed cultivation. Due to the breeding process, Belarus was able to develop domestic winter and spring varieties of high-quality wheat. Their production has already reached 2 million tonnes and helped reduce the import of flour. Reduction of import saved more than $27 million to the country. The Belarusian malt has also reached the European standards, and the demand for it exceeds the supply. The quality of the Belarusian beer (Alivarya Brewery) was praised at the US main international contest, the scientist said.

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