Minister: Belarus is not facing a food crisis

Belarus is not facing a food crisis, Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister Igor Brylo said in an interview to the First National Channel of the Belarusian Radio, BelTA has learned.

“It is even strange to hear such a thing. Believe me, we do not need to worry about anything like that in the near future. There is an indicator of the per-person self-sufficiency level. We take the country’s level as 100%. The level of self-sufficiency in milk from which all dairy products are made, and there are more than 1,500 items of them, is 256%. This means that we produce over 2.5 times more dairy products than we consume. The level of self-sufficiency in meat is 135%, eggs - 126%, vegetables and potatoes - more than 100%. We will continue to increase these levels. We have already increased volumes this year, including the sowing areas of both vegetables and potatoes,” said Igor Brylo.

It is better to have a little reserve, the minister added. “As for fruit and berries, we provide some 70% of this domestic market. It has always been typical of Belarus. We did not have such warm weather as now. We did not grow apples and pears in such quantities before. I mean varieties for industrial cultivation. Cherries, gourds. Believe me, we are now doing everything possible to increase the volume of these crops in the country. Of course, oranges and mandarins will not grow here. As for grapes, cherries, apples, pears, and gourds, we can already today increase the production of these crops,” he said.