Climate
The climate of Belarus is moderately continental. It is characterized by warm and damp winter, relatively cool, rainy summer, wet autumn, sunny but changeable weather in spring.
Medium air temperatures of Belarus latitude are -4.5 °C in January in the south-west and -8.5 °C in the north-east. In July the temperatures reach to +17 °C in the North and +19.7 °C in the south. Absolute maximum of air temperature (to +38 °C) was registered in the south-west of Belarus, absolute minimum (-44 °C) in the north-east. Severe winters happen once per 10-15 years.
The sum of active temperatures decreases from 2500 °C in the south-west to 2000 °C in the north-east. The period without frosts lasts 150-180 and 140-150 days correspondingly.
Mean annual precipitation of 600-650 mm is typical to central and north-eastern part of Belarus. Less precipitation falls on the Polesye territory. In drought-afflicted years precipitation is sometimes less than 300 mm but in damp seasons more than 1000 mm. Natural conditions of Belarus favour the growing of basic fruit and soft fruit crops, grape and apricot being grown in the south and south-west.

Geography
The nature of Belarus is determined, by its position in the west of the Russian plain (Russkaya ravnina) in latitude 51-56° North and in longitude 23-33° East in temperate zone on the way of moving the western air masses from the Atlantic. Sward-podzolic, sward-podzolic-boggy and peat-boggy soils constituting 82% of all soil and are widely spread in Belarus. Sward-podzolic, weakly, and medium podzolized soils are the best for gardens.

Horticulture
All aspects of horticulture in temperate zones are typical for Belarus. However, seed crops, stone and soft fruit crops and grapes are the main important ones.

Distribution of Horticulture
Three fruit-production zones: southern, central and northern were chosen in accordance with the natural and economic conditions of Belarus Republic. Southern and central zones are divided into two subzones: western and eastern subzones. All the basic plantings of fruit and soft fruit crops are concentrated in most favourable for them central and southern areas and closely connected with raw material zones of processing enterprises.
The area of fruit and soft fruit plantings in Belarus is 100,300 ha or 1.1% of total area of arable land including 47,600 ha of agricultural enterprises. Average annual fruit and soft fruit production is 500,000 tons or 48 kg per capita. Seed crops make up 90%, stone fruit 6%, and soft fruit 4% in the gross yield of fruit and soft fruit cultures. Apples are and will be the basic type of fruit growing in Belarus.

Research Thrusts
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Belarus are the two main centres that unite all the research work in the field of agriculture and processing industry.

Nature of Institutes
Research in horticulture at present is aimed at breeding and introduction of fruit and soft fruit crops, their rootstocks and ornamental flowering plants; elaboration and improvement of growing technologies, fruit and soft fruit storage and processing; working out technologies of growing healthy planting material; waking up republican standards for planting material, fruit and soft fruit raw materials and the products of their processing; drawing up scientific and economic prognoses and combined programs for horticultural development in Belarus.
Research is realized by:
1. Research Institutes and Experiment Stations under the Academy of Agrarian Sciences, and
2. Chairs of Higher State Agricultural Institutions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Organisations / Institutes:
Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Belarusian State Agricultural University

• Update country Belarus
• Remove country Belarus
• Insert region
• Insert organisation
• Insert institute