Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Belarus more than triples potato exports since beginning of this year
Belarus has more than tripled potato exports in January-July 2015, according to Mr. Leonid Zayats, Minister of Agriculture and Food of Belarus.
The export volumes totaled 200,000 tons with Russia being the main export market.
There are 240 specialized farms accounting for the share of 70% in total potato production in Belarus, he says. In addition, the storage facilities constructed over the past 4 years are able to hold 240,000 tons of potatoes. «In general, we are able to store all grown potatoes in Belarus with volumes totaling 1.3 mln tons», Mr. Zayats adds.
As regards further potato sector development in Belarus, the focus will be on an increase in production by means of growth in yields. «Belarusian farms still have perspectives for growth. We need to develop seed production, machinery segments to have 500 centners per ha against current 250-300 centners per ha», Mr. Zayats says.