MINSK, 30 September (BelTA) – Food is acquiring a strategic status. Stability of the state and wellbeing of people depend on its supply and affordability, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said when speaking at the nationwide harvest festival, Dazhynki-2011. “We often say that food security of the state is a cornerstone of its independence. The resent events attest that this is true. Food is acquiring an increasingly strategic status. I want to say it openly: dignity of a nation, self-respect, real sovereignty of a country are unthinkable without food security,” the Belarusian leader said. In his words, world practice shows that well-developed and efficient agriculture is an integral part of advanced economies. Not a single country can be billed as successful if its agrarian sector is weak. That is why Belarus pays a lot of attention to the development of its agro-industrial complex, Alexander Lukashenko stated. In his words, food provision is a top priority of the state policy. Target programs alongside large-scale investment into the sector have contributed to successful implementation of the effort. Rural revival can be considered as our major achievement in the agrarian sector today. We have brought agrarian production onto a higher level. The country has ensured regular supplies of agricultural products to the domestic market. The export of agricultural produce is continuously increasing, the head of state said.

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