The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has set priorities for the 2026 sowing season: focus on corn and potatoes

According to a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, farmers are faced with the task of conducting the sowing campaign quickly and efficiently to lay a solid foundation for the future harvest.

As Nikolai Leshik noted, approximately 1.5 million hectares of winter grains and over 440,000 hectares of cruciferous crops have been sown since the fall for the 2026 harvest. He emphasized that these figures are traditionally stable, but can fluctuate by up to 5% depending on weather conditions.

"Last year, we sowed 30,000 hectares less winter grains, a result of a more humid autumn. This naturally leads to an increase in the area of ​​spring grain," the official explained.

This season, Belarusian farmers intend to focus on corn production. The increase in corn sowing will be achieved by optimizing the area under other crops, particularly barley and oats.

"This decision is driven by both government instructions and the actual needs of farms for feed grain, as well as an analysis of the performance of previous seasons," added Nikolai Leshik.

The main surprise of the 2026 sowing campaign will be a significant expansion of potato acreage. The industry has been set an ambitious goal of reaching a gross harvest of 1 million tons, which implies an increase of 200,000 tons over the previous year's level. To achieve this goal, the acreage under this "second grain" will be increased by almost 15% compared to last year.

At the same time, as the head of the main department assured, the acreage under sugar beets and flax will remain unchanged—these crops retain their status as "constant" in the cropping structure. While their production remains a priority, there are no plans to expand their acreage this season.