Belarus remains CIS leader in production of milk, meat and potatoes per capita

12 июля 2020


Belarus produces about one per cent of the world's milk. And it is one of the top five exporters of various dairy products. White rivers flow to 60 countries, and even to such remote ones as Cuba, Thailand, Indonesia and China. This year, even despite closed borders and the global pandemic, we were able to expand the export map of agricultural products. In 2020, nine new partner countries were added. 

Our products are known and bought all over the world today - and this fact is taken for granted by many people, but after the collapse of the USSR, it was difficult to feed ourselves. 

In the nineties, the domestic consumer market was experiencing a really deep crisis. At that time Belarusians got the so-called "consumer cards" for industrial goods and coupons for products. And the average salary of a Belarusian in 1995 was $65.

The crisis of the nineties hurt agriculture: production in this industry has dropped by a third with uncontrolled reduction of cattle and lack of agrarian personnel. 

Alexander Lukashenko has always paid special attention to agriculture and  controlled the entire industry since his first days as President.

Perhaps the most difficult and crucial time for the agricultural sector was the first five years of independence.

 The situation began to change only in 1994, when a program of urgent measures to get the country out of crisis, prepared by the National Bank, was adopted. And today, a small Belarus is among the top five world leaders in the export of dairy products along with the USA, New Zealand, Argentina and Australia.

When the domestic market was fully supplied with its milk and meat, large export shipments began. The huge market of Russia still remains a priority today. But in general, the export geography is almost the whole world. Today, our food is on the shelves of 92 countries including China, India, Malaysia, and since last year also Cuba, Thailand, Indonesia.

Such high agricultural export performance would not have been possible without complete "realignment" of the entire agrarian system within the country. Over the past twenty years, once unprofitable collective farms have been transformed into modern and profitable dairy complexes. 

Only this year, 40 new state standards in the field of agriculture and food have been approved - this is a constant work on the quality of products.

 By the way, our scientists played a great role in the formation of the Belarusian food as a synonym of unconditional quality. Selection, genetics, yield increase, trials - there is no food without science. 

Belarus has recently picked up a new trend - organic products. The law adopted last year gives a good impulse to small farms and farmers to develop organic farming, which may well become a new brand.