PAST CROPS AND ESTIMATE FOR NEAR FUTURE
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP82-00047R000200660003-3
Release Decision:
RIPPUB
Original Classification:
S
Document Page Count:
4
Document Creation Date:
December 23, 2016
Document Release Date:
April 17, 2013
Sequence Number:
3
Case Number:
Publication Date:
April 4, 1953
Content Type:
REPORT
File:
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
CIA-RDP82-00047R000200660003-3.pdf | 405.5 KB |
Body:
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release .@ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200660003-3
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Past Crops and Estimate for Near Future
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF INFORMATION
THIS DOOLIMINT CCCCC INS INFORMATION APPICTINS TNI NATIONAL 1111111
RF THI %mil(' IT TTTTT WITHIN INN MIANINS OP TITLI II, ICOTIONS 71R
/NO 714, OF ?NI U.S. COOK, AI AMINDIO, ITS T AAAAA ISSION ON 11111.
LATION OP ITS OOOOO NTS TO OR 0111 PT ST AN LINARTNORIlilf PINION II
ORSNISITIS IT Al,L ?NE NNNNN OWITION OP TNII FIRM IN PROHIIITIR.
ORFt 6124
DATE DISTR.it5
Apr 19?
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NO. OF PAGES 4
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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Mum ardmmelen 5 0 X 1
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rye, wheat, oats, and barley principal cereal grains.
In 1932, according to the informatioa t.ne wosnenskiy and. Lynbanskiy ress,50X1
which combined about 300 kolkhozes, the wheat crops mounted, on the average
to 8 centners per hectare; rye, 11 ceatners; and oats, 10 csatners. In
1933, the average wheat crop was 7 ceatners per hectare; rye, 9 centners;
and oats, 10 centners (a centner equals 100 kilograms).
The 1934 crop situation in Sovkhoz was different. There, only 6 50X1
centners of wheat per hectare were co ed., due to the terrible, dry
winds prevalent during that year. Moreover, because of the shortage of
spare parts for tractors and. agricultural implements, 35 % of the
tractors were out of repair, and we were, therefore, late with the sowing
and. dropped the seeds into the dry earth. The crops were: barley) U
centners per hectare on the average; rye) 7 centners. The oats pei milted
almost completely; we did. not collect euough even for the sowing. kg far
as wheat was concerned, although it had been sown much earlier than usual,
it yielded 4 centners per hectare. In order to combat humidity, the People's
Commissar of Sovkhozes ordered through the Party organizatior the sawing of wheat
by hand. in spite of the fact that snow still covered. the fields in places.
In three days, 150 persons sowed. the land which had. been tilled back in
autumn, seeding it between the tilled, but unharrowed ridges. In a few days,
under the action of dry winds and the sun, the ridges turned. Into dry clods.
When it became possible to harrow the soil and. we broke up the clods, the
grain was found exposed, dried out by the wind, and unable to sprout.
In 1935, the standing wheat crop after flowering was estimated. tit; sk �...!entners,
per hectare. But when it came to harvesting, the yield. was only 9 ceatners
per hectare, because the crops had been infected, with rust and. kidney vetch
Liana, probably misprint for Bread baked. with this wheat was dark
and. bitterish in taste. ollected 11 centners of rye, 9 centnezi of oat%) and
n
9 centners of barley per eetare on the average. The crops in the kolkhozessulr--
rounding (917,1_ even wprse than OUTS. 50x
SECRET/SECURITX INFORMATION
DISTRIBUTION
A PA/
OFtR EV
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200660003-3
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SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
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2.
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There was just one method for estimating crops. A special commission des-
ignated by the Rayon Land Section from among its own methership and augmented
by people from Party organizations, and the authorized agent of the People's
Commissariat of Supplies visited the fields twice) the first time, ilmediately
after the flowering of the grains, and the second time, when the grain was
fully ripe. The commission out the grain in several sectors on an area of
one square aster. These ears were dried in wear and the grai: was threshed by
hand and. weighed. Let us say, 140 grans of wheat were obtained. from one
square meter in the first sector, 150 in the second, 160 in the third, and
110 in the fourth. These figures were added and a total of 560 grams was
obtained. This divided by four gave an average of 140 grams of wheat per
one square meter on all sectors; 140 was multiplied by 10,000 square meters,
making 1,4000000 grams, or 1,400 kilograms, 'which is oval to 14 centners.
The commission drew up a statement, which vas signed by the commission and
the sovkho7_or_k7lkhoz administration, to the effect that the wheat crops
in Sovkhoz had been found to average 14 centners per hectare ois the 50X1
entire area sown with wheat. The quantity to Ise delivered to State grain
elevators was assessed on the basis of such a document. This method of
estimating crops helped to turn hundreds of responsible workers into slaves,
because the real situation after the crops had been collected never correspon-
ded to that envisaged by the commission. 50X1
50X1
Of course, nowhere and never did those figures represent the real situation
on a farm after the harvest. The difference between the estimate of standing
crops and the yield after threshing fluctuated between two and four centners
per hectare, 50X1
There were always losses of grain during the gathering of a crop both in
kolkhozes and sovkhozes. The losses, an meationed above, amounted an the
average to 2-4 centners per hectare; they almost never varied.
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The main reason for losses during the harvest were as follows
Poor organization of labor. This poor organization stems from the fact that
neither the laborers nor the members of the kolkhozes and sovkhozes have any
interest in production.
Absen_te_.L.L)f,mians.Live. The absence of interest and individual in-
istive in the kolkhoz men is explained by the fact that they are paid for
their work per work-day after the State taxes have been turned in, after
the MTS has been paid in kind for tilling the soil, after the seed reserves
have been set aside, after the insurance and cultural funds have been set
aside, after the kolkhoz livestock has been provided"with fodder for the
next year, after a fund for public construction has been eatablished, and
after grain has been delivered in payment for the "voluntary" Mate loans.
After all these items have been taken care of, one or two kilogram are
left EtO be pai47 for a work-day even in the best of kolkhozes while in
the nedium and poor ones only 300 grams) at most, 1 kilogram ere left for
a work-day.
There is no initiative in the sovkhozes because a laborer makes at nost
120-150 rubles a month working 14-12 hours a day. In addition, one must
take into account the poor housing conditions, the collective quartering
of workers in houses and hotels, the shortage of food, clothing, and footwear,
SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200660003-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200660003-3
3,
SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
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the strict financial discipline, and cheap prices paid by the State for
grain and neat, Money alloted to a kolkhoz for living expenses covers
only 50,60% of the needs of the kolkhoz meters.
50X1
IL124123111122istmlaa!, the absence of spare parts for tractors and complex
agricultural machinery, the absence of adequate numbers of male workers,
and the shortage of specialists and mechanization promotors who understand
the machines are further reasons for losses during the harvest. In addition,
there is a custom in the USSR of flooding the koikhozes and sovkhooes during
the harvesting season with "volunteers" from towns and cities in order to
help with the gathering of crops. These workers arrive in a kolkhoz or a
sovkhoz after a hard working day in their industries and are obliged to put
in another three or four hours of work in the fields. Students who have
dreamed of a vacation are driven to work in kolkhozes and sovkhozee. Kom-
somols and Pioneer schoolchildren, who have dreamed of enjoying nature, are
also forced to work in the kolkhozes. All these "volunteers, who have no
idea of farming, who work gratis, without incentive, who have neither know-
ledge nor physical ability for such work, are only a burden on the kolkhoz
food supplies and do more harsithan good to the kolkhoz.
But the State ignores this and sends tens of thousands of them to the country,
because it is afraid lest the crops be left for the winter under the snow.
It chooses the lesser evil: It is better to suffer a loss of 2-4 centners
due to the exploitation of strangers who have nothing to do with agricultural
economy than to leave the crops in the fields for the winter. 50X1
Another very important cause is the absence of transport in the sovkhozes 50X1
and kolkhozes. In order to deliver 71000 tons of grain during a period. of
20 harvesting days, from the fields to the State grain elevators A distance
of 30 kilometers in the specific case: needed A) transport
250 tons a day, while in the sovkhozvere four
trucks. Sixty trucks were sent down tom towns, but 5C,% of them 50X1
were under repair or were completely lacking it spare parte. Tnese
were loaded directly from the comninee end carried ooain to the elevator,
Every trip of every truck shoved a shortage of 70-80 kilogram o grelno
sometimes the losses amounted to as muA as one centner. The drivers and
loading men did not steal the grain en route because they were accoloenied
by a Party member belonging to the organization, Because of the shootage
of grain sacks, however, the grain was poured directly into the vehSoless
and this caused considerable losses due to the movement of the srucee
These are the main causes of losses of crops. Secondary losses were sus-
tained, in the cutting, stacking, drying, transportation to threehinz
machines, threshing, or rainy weather, etc. 50X1
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that crops in the USSR will not improve
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in the next ten years under prevailing agricultural conditions. If con- 50X1
ditions are improved. the crons may be increased. but very slightly., ss
10-15 %.
50X1
This 10-15% improvement in the crops will be achieved thrrya41 50X1
forestation, construction of irrigation systems, and an increase in the
production of mineral fertilizers. With respect to organic fertile, 50X1
there never will be any An the UOSRo because kolkhoz nen are depriven
the right to own livestock; and livestock in koikhozee does not easely
increase because the kolkhoz men Some no inteesest in 11... The eloeenot of
private initiative, the intensification of Party and political control,
the resultant enslavement, the miserable existence of millions of peasants
and the absence of any hope for the future, restrains the peasants, cr
rather strengthens the passive resistapee of the peasant masses against
SECRET/SECURITY INFORIATION
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200660003-3
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uw.
SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
the Soviet regime. It is absurd to maintain, as the Bolsheviks would have
it, that crops will be doubled in ten years. Where there is no free economic
initiative, no political freedom, where a man cannot enjoy the fruits of his
own labor, where he works under the whip, in fear of death or complete slavery,
the level of a free producer cannot be attained. A number of methods are
used by peasants in their passive resistance in the field of agriculture.
Among them are the following: The koikhoz men in the role of passive resis-
tance against the government almost always are late with the sowing in the
spring and in the fall. They do not sow all the grain intended for sowing.
They till the land badly and sow weeds on the black soil. They pollute the
wheat with oats, barley, millet, and other cultures; they deliberately augment
the losses during harvests. They stack so that rain may penetrate inside the
stacks. When they thresh, they place the drum' in such a tanher as to prevent
the ears from being thoroughly threshed. They are late with the repairs of
� agricultural equipment. They build the threshing floors in such a way as to
increase the losses in threshing. No Party control is able to detect or
prevent all these machinations.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200660003-3