The Government decided to award the districts that will complete the autumn ploughing the first, as in the previous years. About 320,000 lei will be allocated from the budget for the purpose. At Wednesday’s meeting of the Government, Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev said that the ploughing should be finished by November 15. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, for the competition, all the districts of Moldova were divided into three groups, according to the size of the arable lands that they administer. Two prizes, the first and the second, will be offered for the districts with the largest areas of arable land: of 70,000 and 60,000 lei respectively. The second group of districts will receive prizes of 60,000 lei and 50,000 lei, while the second group – of 50,000 lei and 30,000 lei. The prizes will be distributed by a special governmental commission that will check after November 15 how the autumn sowing was carried out. About 825,000 hectares will be ploughed this autumn. Some 30% of these have been ploughed. The Premier said that all the 420,000 hectares of land that will be sowed with cereal crops of the first group have been ploughed and 70% of these have been sowed. The sowing will be completed by October 20.