BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/02/2006

Belarus' crops suffer severe damage from cold snap

MOSCOW, Feb. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Belarus' wheat and rapeseed crops suffered severe damage from a recent cold snap across Europe, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.

About 50 percent of wheat, 30 percent of rye and 50 percent of rapeseed crops were damaged by extreme cold weather in the country last month, Interfax quoted a Belarussian Agriculture Ministry official as saying.

Belarus needs to revamp some 300,000 hectares of crops at the moment. Agricultural and food sectors have prepared 20 billion Belarussian rubles (9.3 million U.S. dollars) to meet that end, the official said.

In mid-January, thermometers in the north-eastern Vitebsk province dipped to a chilly minus 34 degrees centigrade, the lowest in 19 years. The temperature in the capital Minsk also hit a new two-decade low, falling to minus 24 degrees centigrade

Source:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/22/content_4211470.htm