AGRICULTURE CONDITIONS AROUND UZHGOROD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00046R000200090021-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 1, 2009
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: October 16, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR ~Oarpath?-~lJkrae)
SUBJECT Agricultaxral. CoraditiOna Arouxad
UzhgorOd
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.$. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of !ts contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
REPORT
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO.
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
fHE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT 1S TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
The fOllcY~ring changes ehculd be made therein:
16 October 1953
1;, Okruzakom ahquld read Okruzhkom throughout.
2. izmailaki Qblast,~ page 2, should read Izmailakaya Oblast.
~. Surte, page ~~ should read Syarte.
sncRET
STATE
ARMY NAVY
cJ.G i ~.CiT
SECURITY INFORMATION
AEC
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COUNTRY t35SR ~C~~~~~~~
SUf37ECT Agricultural ~onditiona Around
Uzhgor?d
REPORT
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DATE DISTR, 31 Aug. 53
NO.OF PAGES ~
PLACE NO.OF ENCLS.
ACQUIRED (~isteo B~~ow~
DATE ~ I SUPPLEMENT Tp
ACQUIRED
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. To get the ropper picture of the agricultural conditions around
Uzhgorod, ~8-~+0, E 22-18~, USSR, it should be noted that the
'northern-area is mountainous and largely covered with foret~ts.
?n these mouhtain slopes oats, potatoes, agples, pears, plums,
and grapes were produced. Southward from the city is a very
rich plain, where the ~ms.in agricultural products were wheat
and corn. Before 195 the yield of wheat averaged 1U-12 ?~entner
per acre, and oats and potatoes yielded an excellent average
annuallyr
in 19~+$, independent farmers were
e ng orce o pay e~ re~ae y high taxes. and deliveries. This
wt~s the first indication that the time had arrived for the Soviets
to start organizing the independent farmers to establish the
kolkhoz system there. They arrested a couple of the best farmers in
each vi1la~,e and ordered peasant youths from 17-22 dears old t?
"volunteer Far work in the Donbas coal mines. 'Then they spread
the rumor that the youths mould be returned to their homes if the
parents would loin a kolkhoz. After 5096. of the village inde-
pendent farmers joined the kolkhoz, the Soviets spread another
'rumor that those who refused to loin would be deported to
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~zme.ilski gble.st.F T:I?xereupon, of course, the rea~aainix~g 50~
~~?~ fined .
d ~zh orod were directed by ..the Uzhgorod
figures on kolkh.~azes, worked a~zt- a pr? uc p
Th residents of the kolkhozes were
e
.- The kolkhozes aroc~i g
..,Okruzsk?~. 'phis aff~.ce, which had ave.ilable a.ll the necessary
d tion lan and gave 1t
A
tb the various kalkhozes.
responsible fear the exeouti~+n s.~f this -plan, ahd they received
orders from the gki~rakti~r-. The annual agricultural plan -con-
tained orders s.s tc~ type of ~;rop and the amount of the yield to
be delivered to the-ete.te storage warehouses at fixed prices.
-Based upon the ag~icu~.t~zra.l plan off' the gkruzsk4rn, the leaders . Qf
.the. kmlkhaz _(appr~txi.t~ly 1.~ persaxas) decided what they wcsuld
plant in t~ieix? .fields. lra dieing able to d.etext~,ine Tfirhat to grow
-and where the kolkhcaz leaders were able t4 exercise a little
independence, and had the oppc~rtu~nity tc~ wake the most suitable
choice of cropsc
_ -- ?-_-_ a, __.. .....~,-.,~ ~.~~.~,~ ~?~~~ fi nr t;ha kcalkhaz members.
wd
divided among the ~.~~.k. a+z ~ .
saestbers had to keep part cif the.. y9.eld to feed the kolkhoz animals.
An example c~f~ this system: if a kolkhoz toad. 2,gg0 kg, of wheat
left over after delivery to the state, and the kolkhoz members
worked l,ggq days. a1to~ethery then the dividend of the members
would be two kilograms ~rf wheat each for each day worked. Thus,
the members who worked 5q working days would. receive 100 kg. of
wheat, a n d' 'ire m. b~ :~ s ~ who ~lorked 20 working days wouldreceive .
~0 kgs. of wheat.. The total at~caunt a kolkhoz member could receive
l tad At best a
a
'
After harvesting, deliveries were made tc~ the state warehouses
first, and, if the ko~.khraz still had a quantity of their crops
left `after that,, it was divided as follows: first, a portion was
stored for seeds for the next yeAr; second, a reserve was set
wide for .unforeseen emergencies and third, the remainder was
rkars In addition the kolkh?z_
?~ h
I
in sash and .pax~t~y in agricu. u.~ a p :
~tamb~r of worki~n.g days during the year . Kolkho.z members received
their salaries only Mice s. year, s.fter deliveries hsd been
made to fulfill t~xa~ :,;~bligatc~ry grder t+~ the state warehouse .
SFSOLt'Fkb6I~F.A.'~7 4/s. ~yaav ed
least 12q days annually. Ii" iradivid~zals did not work 1~0 days
anMUally, they' were brought be~'ore m people"s court on charges of
economic sabotage. olkh4z members received their income partly
t ,~ 1 roducts according to the
yaariy vv va~v ~a MQ,,.w, ...... ....-_~_ _,.- ---- - -
.The state Made butter from the milk< People mere required to
deliver 84 e?gs per year per xte~n, for which the state paid them
l2 kopeks per egg. There-eggs were reaold~in the state shops.
for 95 kopeks, each. ~vlkl~oz members awning a pig triad to deliver
12 kg. of lard an~aue.l'ly< The received 3.$0 rubles per kg. for
tk~is, and the state resold lard for 3$ rubles per kg. Each member
tree required to d~+liver 35 kg. of meat. The stag paid 2.50
.rubles per kg. for ~aee,t, aa~d resold it, for 1~-2q rubles per kg.
If a member could :aot f~u].:Pill his quota. he was forced to pay in
cash.
.~
a crap was raga
fros- the rema~.~aing quantity +~~
~4?lkhoz worker cou~.d receive dearly five aentner of a cereal
crap, six oexatrier of potatoes, three centner of corm-ozt-the-oob,
e,tzd a small q,~,antity of sash vegetables as cabbage, tomatoes,
~horrrer~ unableetr~~wor~rec~ived nothinghe old people and children
,Anyone roho owned a cow was required to deliver 2~0,1it. of milk
_ ., _ _.. y _,_ L _ .__ _ ., .: .e .o ~ A u.,,;.'Irm. na,r 1 t ter .
T'he kolkhoz members sere suppc~sed`to be paid two rubles daily out
of the cash re~eiyed fc-r delitreries to the state, but because of
the vbligatc~ry subscription to the state lawn and high taxes on
their privately owned. h~auses ~,nd vegetable gardens, they never saw
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l~ty cash. I{vlkhc+~ ~~s~~~rg were permitted to own a house, oege-
ttitb~le " ~i~rd~em~.. 4 ~txi~t 'a~ize~. 25 satek) , one or twc~ cows i a an
x.
t
t
a
o
fowl 11 bf which weri~ e~ub~eet
ar w c ey
in 1951
d
6
,
ays
54
wonted a total of
p
receivel from the kolkhoz?.
Cash. e . . 1,240 rubles
~T'heat . a _ ? . . . . . 1, 200 kg .
- "_ _. ~G ~ tat~lr'~ r. . 0 0 0 . e o b 1, ~?O kg ? .
Corn . e . o . . . ? . ? e 64o kg.
' rl ~.y o a o e e e ? e o # s ? ? 12o kg ?
Straw o~ e ? o e a ? r ? e o s ~OO kg ? .
and in the eat~e year they paid
Tax on hs~use . .
. 150 rubles
Tax on only cow . . . 120 rubles
be ng c e . . 30? rubles
State Lean . . . ? .
Cash instead ~i~ lard
delivery . ?
Cash instead of ~aeat
delivery . .
Cash instead. of milk and
egg delivery .
. 1,20a rubles
x+40 rubles
. 30a rubles
. . 100 rubles
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The. introduction of the kolkhoz system brought two results. In
?ne gray the ayate~a was favorable to the Communists, beeaube the
kolkhoz workers were dependent on salaries received fr?~t the
k?lkh?zea. P'urthermare, a kolkhoz worker who was anti-Communistic
had, his obligatory deliveries increased. ;On the other hand,
kc-'lkhoz workers lacked interest in oult~ivating the fields .and in
maintaining ka,chinery, and the constantly decreasing yearly agri-
oultural yield reflects this fact.Compared,with the prewar years,
the yy3eld,Qf 1951 showed a 30 96 decrease. The 1lvestack of the
kpikhoz was inadequate, ~d this in turn caused a lack of ferti,~izer.
'further, einae the supply of artifical fertilizer was very poor,
the soil was deteri?rati~g from year to year.
9:' ? Kolkhozes in the immediate area produced 5496 whes,t, 1596 potatoes,
1596 coma, and 1096 vegetables yearly . Tn 1949 the1-yield was average s
In 1954-51 thedyieMeather.~athe yieldtwasaverynpo~r2s beaawae of
the extremely ry
la. Before World star IT the Carpatho-Ukraine' region was famous for ~ ..
. fruits. ~?~ The region produced mostly apples,;- pears, phams, cherries,
apricots, and grapea.in large quaMtities and mf very good quality-.
After the war the Soviets introduced in the orchard regions the so-
called 3ovkhoz, the members of which received their income in each
?n].y, Because of the poor income, Sovkhoz workers did not take care
of the orchards pr?perly and the quality of the fruit, most of
which was delivered inside the Smviet Union, became poor. Con-
seq~emtly, the introduction of the Sovkhoz system,als? affected
the pr?duction Qf.wine in the Carpatho:-Ukraine,-and the fine wines
produced there before the war were no longer available.
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11. Ih ,1954 the Soviets intr?dueed a nevi grain in the Carpatho-t?kraine
C811ed "cYiumiza; which eras ~.ike millet . This grain had a ~ larger
pield thars'~illet and wa,e less dependent on sere and fav?rable
" ~waather, but the. quality and nutritional value was less. than millet
" grai~a. After grinding, the grain was used'for bread, which had a"
yrellaw color similar to corn bread.
~.~. The"Soviets pressed the kcrlkhozes to produce more tobacc? end as
t~P'1~52 the CarpathoaUkraine was producing 10..times more tobacco
thah the prewar- standard a ~ioxever, the qus.l3ty of the tobacco
.,ti~as"1~ times lowers Every Leaf of tabaeco had to be delivered
to the sate. '
13. After Wor7:d War II the livestock of the papulatiob decreased as
`: mm~~ as 25~ as a result of lack of fodder; eareleasx~eas of
kolkhQz workers, axed overwork of the animals - in- the .fields .
At~t~aai diseases s,lso caused a great ~de~rease ire livestock. FQr
example, is the summer of 1952, 15-20 pigs died daily x~ the
area from a d..ises,se known s.s "pi s ? pest P~. The number of -,fowl .
deere~,sed s.lsa. People who had 64-AO hems before. the war;
when I left had only 8-10. Before the war
Pa].ov here were approximately 3' 004. geese
I~ In -the,, Spring of 1952 the
PalQV` kdlkhdz received 2, 500 ore-day-old chicks from .the ~Tzkigorod
i~cubat~r ar~d they all died in,si~c weeks. In the Spring of
-1952 i~ Rc~r3tnyahy~he s~eretary of the CP in anger.. kill.
25.-34 s~aa.ll chickens with hie own hands, the last which remained
alive.fro~ 2.,544 chickens. The state offered them another 2,540
'ehiakebs.which they refused because they were afraid they would
be charged with economic sabotage if the c.hicker~s died,. Since
~?~ 1951 every kolkhoz has been required to raise.-sheep for wool..
1~.,;Agrie.ttltural.machinery and tools used by"kolkha~es consisted of
tY~e farmer property of indepet~d
old and n eded co
ero were ~rac or s a one
~t z goro a~, ur e; approx a~a e y 10 ~ krn. south of Uzhgorod.
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