Orshanshchina welcomes the district “Harvests” with a rich harvest
This Saturday, the agrotown of Smoliany will host the district holiday of rural workers "Dazhynki". The final preparations are underway, and the updated settlement will welcome hundreds of guests. On the eve of the festival-fair, a journalist from the "Orshanskaya Gazeta" met with the chairman of the Orsha District Executive Committee, Igor Moroz, to discuss the successes of our agrarians in the field and to summarize the interim results of the harvest season in the region.
– Igor Alexandrovich, what results are we meeting the district "Dazhynki" with?
– We have not yet completed the agricultural year. There is work in the fields until the end of autumn. Our main focus on spring crops, particularly on obtaining corn grain, has not yet played its decisive role. The year has certainly been ambiguous. First, there was a cold spring, then a mild June slowed the growth and development of plants. All these circumstances caused certain anxiety: will we achieve good results, will we meet our planned goals, will the results of our hard work be visible? But even now, summarizing the interim results, I can say that the district has worked in an organized manner, with good growth dynamics. We have harvested 133.4 thousand tons of grain in bunker weight with a yield of 47.7 c/ha. And this is one of the best yield indicators in the entire history of the Orsha District! We have also increased rapeseed production by 140 percent compared to last year. We are currently actively harvesting forage crops, preparing silage, and forming the future harvest for 2026. More than 55 percent of winter crops have already been sown. We are placing special emphasis on winter crops. As experience shows, they provide the most effective yield and are less susceptible to natural phenomena in the risky farming zone. All farms will be provided with quality feed, which will allow us to form a productive feed base for livestock production. By the way, by the end of the year, we plan to complete the implementation of a large-scale project for the reconstruction of the dairy complex near the village of Mezhevo for 1200 head of cattle, as well as to start the construction of another dairy complex in the agricultural production cooperative "Zubrevichi-Agro", which will also positively impact the development of the agricultural sector in the Orsha District.
– How did the harvesting of grain and leguminous crops go in the Orsha District?
– The pace of harvesting, as always, was set by the Head of State. Our leading farms traditionally achieved the highest yields: the agricultural production cooperative "Larinovka" (82.9 c/ha) and the open joint-stock company "Agrocomplex Jubilee" (63.1 c/ha). This year, the agricultural production cooperative "Zubrevichi-Agro" also performed well, with a yield of 51 c/ha. The peasant farms "Shagira" and "Vasilionok" contributed to the harvest of the Orsha region with yields of 57.3 c/ha and 45.9 c/ha, respectively.
City residents, including our partner enterprises and employees of the police and emergency services, actively participated in the harvest. This allowed us to be among the first in the Vitebsk region to harvest the 2025 crop in the shortest possible time. I would like to express my special gratitude to the leaders of agricultural enterprises and mechanization services: "Mayak Vysokoe" Pavel Fominov, the "Greenhouse" branch Ivan Mikulich, "Zadrovye" Andrei Lely, "Mezhevo-Agro" Dmitry Krukovsky and the Orsha District Agricultural Service Anatoly Mikhnovich for their support and for sending mechanized teams to assist in the harvest in the Tolchin, Gorodok, Dubrovno, and Verkhnedvinsk districts.
– Undoubtedly, the agrotown of Smoliany has noticeably transformed for the holiday of rural workers "Dazhynki". Let’s once again name the main facilities that have been updated and remind ourselves of the scope of work completed.
– Preparation for the large-scale festival began at the beginning of this year. In January, at a meeting with local residents, we discussed in detail the plan for the improvement of the settlement, listened to opinions and suggestions about how the villagers envision their village, and what should be prioritized during the repair work. The list of facilities that needed to be put in order turned out to be impressive. However, we tried to take into account all the wishes of local residents. As a result, the improvement touched almost all spheres of life in the agrotown. The local outpatient clinic, school, and its surrounding area, the House of Culture, and the building of the agricultural college have been updated. Order was restored in park areas and places of military glory, and the local bathhouse was renovated. Special attention was paid to the central part of Smoliany, the so-called Market Square. A nice recreation area with pedestrian paths, benches, and flowerbeds has appeared here. The trading facilities of the settlement have also been transformed, street lighting, roads, multi-apartment residential buildings, and adjacent territories have been repaired, children's playground equipment has been installed, recreation areas have been equipped, and much more. All this will remain for many years for the residents of the agrotown of Smoliany, and we will continue to bring other settlements in order. The capital of the district "Dazhynki-2026" will be the urban settlement of Orekhovsk, where more than 2,000 people currently live. Preparations for the holiday will begin there at the end of this year. We will hold meetings with the population, learn about their problems, and determine the scope of work.
– What would you like to wish the rural workers and residents of the region on the eve of the district "Dazhynki"?
– On Saturday, the main heroes of the holiday will be the people whose hands smell of bread, who work without weekends and never count their personal time, who love their native land and multiply its riches. Each of them deserves the loudest and most sincere words of gratitude for their hard work and warm wishes in their address.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped tidy up the agrotown of Smoliany, and to the residents of the Orsha region, I want to say one thing: love your land, appreciate what has been created for you, and by your example, raise and educate true patriots of your small homeland. See you at the "Dazhynki"!
Anastasia TUROK.
Photo by Sergey SLEPTSOV.