Forest intensively renewed. Harvesting of cones needs to be completed before end of January

Coniferous products are harvested from plantations, sent for processing, and then planted again to create a new forest. 

A specialist collects pine cones at a height of 7 meters. One can get up to 20 kilograms of pine products per day under favorable conditions. Trees are regularly pruned to make it more convenient for specialists.

The task is not just to collect cones, but to filter them out. The needles, last year's crop, and the ones damaged by the resin fall into the bucket. Such cones will not open and will not produce seeds.

Sergey Volchkevich, forester of Uzden forestry: "Due to warm weather, the cone began to open. These wings will open and the seed will fly out, so we need to harvest this year as soon as possible."

The harvesting must be completed before the end of the month, due to the abnormally warm winter. There are seeds with improved genetic characteristics in Uzden plantation. Elite tree varieties are more resistant to disease, which is profitable for the forestry. 

The crop is processed in the Republican Forest Selection and Seed Center. Seeds are dried and then extracted from cones using a special device. They are cleaned and calibrated, examined in the laboratory and the raw materials are sent for storage in special refrigerators. The seed does not lose quality under such conditions.

The quality of Belarusian woods is also noted by foreign neighbors. Raw materials of European spruce are annually exported to Russia and Sweden.