71.   Several years ago its biggest employer, the state farm, closed its doors, and unemployment leapt.

72.   Some of the state farm workers contracted the cutaneous form of anthrax, which causes swollen boils on the skin, from cows they slaughtered.

73.   Some critics say it feeds government bureaucrats and state farm owners while penalizing fledgling private farmers.

74.   State farms have suffered a string of floods and droughts, worsening damage done by decades of mismanagement and loss of Soviet subsidies.

75.   The authoritarian presidency of Lukashenko, a former Soviet state farm director, has alienated some younger, more urban and educated residents.

76.   The Belarusian economy has stalled, as Lukashenko, a former state farm director openly nostalgic for Soviet times, has balked at free-market reforms.

77.   The charismatic former state farm director has championed closer ties to neighboring Russia and shown little enthusiasm for economic reforms.

78.   The group visited tourist sites, an energy plant and a state farm.

79.   The farmers are given the plant seedlings from state farms and nurseries.

80.   The former state farm director also has gained attention for cracking down on dissent, denouncing the West and openly lamenting the Soviet collapse.