Will the bet on the development of ultra-modern pig farming in Belarus pay off? We analyze a specific example
For Belarus, the development of pig farming is of particular importance. Powerful pig farming complexes operate in all regions, the products of which are supplied not only to the domestic market but also for export. However, the outbreak of African swine fever in 2013 dealt a blow to the industry. Over time, other problems have accumulated. Pig farming in Belarus is still in a difficult situation.
This issue had to be taken under personal control by the Head of State, Alexander Lukashenko, and only thanks to the timely measures taken, the situation was gradually stabilized, and now farmers are looking to the future with optimism. In the new issue of the BELTA YouTube project "As a Matter of Fact: The First's Decisions," we will tell you about the current situation at pig farming complexes in Belarus, why a "milk taxi" is used there, and why pigsties smell of... vanillin, what is said in the strategy for the development of ultra-modern pig farming, and whether Belarusians really risk losing their shashlik with cognac. To find answers to these questions, we visited one of the pig complexes. And getting there turned out to be more difficult than getting into a nuclear power plant. We will tell you all about it now.
How much pork is produced in Belarus
Belarusians consume about 295 thousand tons of pork annually, and local enterprises more than cover the population's appetite. The main volume of meat is produced at industrial pig breeding and fattening complexes. Currently, there are slightly more than ninety of them in Belarus. On average, each of them can accommodate about 20-25 thousand animals. These are quite compact farms, but in our conditions, they have proven themselves in the best possible way.
However, Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that Belarusian pig farming has much greater prospects. To achieve high performance, the President emphasizes, it is necessary to modernize pig breeding complexes, observe elementary measures of technological and labor discipline, intensify selection and breeding work, and improve the formulation of compound feeds. At the same time, the President called the provision of biological protection for pig breeding complexes a task of state importance.
"There must be a specific program for putting these complexes in order. Otherwise, we will soon not have a single kilogram of pork in our country for you to go out into nature and cook yourself some shashlik with cognac. The complexes are worn out, morally and physically obsolete. Let's think about a centralized program for the reconstruction of our pig breeding complexes and the construction of new ones," Alexander Lukashenko said in September 2023 at a meeting on pig farming development.at a meeting on pig farming development.
Six months later, the head of state again demanded that the agrarians work for the future and instructed to develop a 10-year strategy for the development of ultra-modern pig farming. "It should include everything: progressive genetics, feed, environmental friendliness. The goals are super-large-scale - maximum deepening of processing and our export expansion," the President stated.
And such a strategy was approved. Among its priorities are the construction of new pig complexes, the improvement of selection and breeding work, the development of pig feeding diets taking into account their breed and productivity direction, the implementation of a digital monitoring system in production facilities, the creation of large agroholdings, which will include land, compound feed plants, meat processing, and trade organizations in their structure.
"Last year, we produced over 413 thousand tons of pork nationwide. We fully supply the domestic market with pork, meeting the population's needs. Nevertheless, a task has been set. We have developed a strategy for ultra-modern pig farming until 2034, according to which we plan to build about 12 new modern pig complexes, and 4 of them will have a capacity of over 100 thousand pigs for fattening per year. If this strategy is successfully implemented overall in these years, we will additionally produce 80 thousand tons of pork. And we will have around 500 thousand tons," said Natalia Sonich, Head of the Main Department for Intensification of Livestock and Fishery Activities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.