Lukashenko opines on prospects of Belarus' own sunflower oil production

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko believes that Belarus can produce sunflower oil on its own. He shared his views on this matter as he visited the selection and seed complex of the Scientific and Practical Center for Arable Farming of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB), BelTA has learned. Aleksandr Lukashenko asked the scientists whether it makes sense to expand the area under sunflower crops in Belarus. After all, this is about import substitution, as Belarus has to import sunflower oil.

The head of state said that on his way to Smolevichi District he passed a sunflower field. “I cannot say how good the yield is going to be, but this sunflower crops look very good,” he noted. “We need to cultivate sunflowers.

Why do we import sunflower oil? Why cannot we produce our own sunflower oil and use sunflower meal as animal feed?” Aleksandr Lukashenko asked. Sunflower fields can be expanded at the expense of corn fields. Yet if all the necessary technology is observed, the yield in the remaining areas should not drop.

At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayats suggested focusing on rapeseed and production of rapeseed oil. In his opinion, it can make more economic sense and is less risky. Aleksandr Lukashenko gave an instruction to test sunflower crops on the president's experimental fields in order to make a final decision.

“We need to give it a try. And after that we will make up our mind whether we will produce it on a mass scale or not,” the head of state said. The same way Belarus once tried to grow winter crops.