CROP PURCHASES AND 1950 AGRICULTURAL PLAN IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600330262-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 26, 2011
• Sequence Number: 262
• Publication Date: July 28, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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This year, for the first time, crop purchasing has been organized accord-
ing to the new system. Instead of the quotas used in past years, a system of
voluntarily concluded contracts concerning purchase and delivery has been intro-
duced, whereby a farmer, after fulfilling his contract, may sell his surpluses
at free prices.
In this way, the state assures the purchase of a sufficient quantity of
food for the nation as established by the Five-Year Plan. The farmer has a
guarantee that the state will purchase from him the entire quantity of agri-
cultural products stipulated in the contract, and at fixed prices established
in advance. This is a great advantage for the farmer, because he does not
have to worry about price fluctuations. It is the duty of the farmers to ful-
fill their obligations within the given time; the fulfillment of the tasks of
the Five-Year Plan is their moral responsibility toward the other members of
our society, especially the working class, and it is also in their own inter-
est.
CLAS'SIF6CATION SECRET SECRET
,6ENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY Czechoslovakia
SUBJECT Economic - Agriculture
HOW
PUBLISHED Semimonthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Prague
DATE
PUBLISHED 23 Dec 1949
THIS DUCUNENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AWSCTIRS THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES VITNIN THE MIANIRS OF IIPIONASI ACT SO
N. A. C.. II ANO it. Al AMENDED. ITS TTAMINISSION 02 THE REVELATION
OF ITS CONTINTS IN ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PRO-
NI9I7ID ST LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
REPORT
CD NO.
DATE OF
DATE DIST.,ir Jul 1950
NO. OF PAGES 4
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SOURCE Funkcionar, Vol IV, No 24, 1949, (published by Central Committee) Com-
munist Party of Czechoslovakia for Party officials).
If we examine the results of this year's fulfillment of deliveries of
grains and potatoes, we see that the crop purchasing program in the Czech
Provinces is worse than last year. What are the reasons for this? At first,
grain purchases proceeded smoothly in most of the kraj; therefore our organi-
zations began to think that, in view of this year's good harvest, it would be
a simple matter to fulfill delivery agreeme%Ats;. and they slackened in their
efforts in purchasing. The lifting of rationing from flour, baked goods,
bread, and potatoes did not serve as an incentive for our officials to ino
crease their efforts toward assuring crop purchases; on the contrary, many
wrongly thought that this meant a release from the strict maintenance of con-
tract deliveries. This same thinking was evident when the new method of do-?.
mestic slaughtering was announced. The officials did not realize that this
would cause increased speculation by farmers. Instead of taking steps to as-
sure the fulfillment of contract obligations, many officials succumbed to the
- 1 - SECRET
STATE NAVY
ARMY VAIR
NSRB
FBI
I
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SECRET
excuses of farmers concerning a "poor harvest" of potatoes and fodder grains,
and became spokesmen for the farmers.
Moreover, Party officials did not devote sufficient attention to the
manner in which the kulaks were fulfilling their deliveries, and to the pos-
sibility that they were sabotaging them because of their class interests.
Officials of the people's administration are often very lax in their conduct
toward these opponents of our state; they do not make sufficient efforts to
expose these persons and punish them in accordance with the law for the de-
fense of the people's democratic republic.
At the same time, a number of economic cooperatives have failed in this
year's purchasing program. Their old apparatus has not proved adaptable to
the new requirements. Their leaders have not realized that the purchasing
program cannot be carried out mechanically or perfunctorily. It is necessary
to know the situation in each individual village, to know each supplier, to
realize the reasons for insufficient purchase in each village, and on that
basis to choose various methods for assuring success.
The village Party organizations have not been regularly evaluating the
fulfillment of deliveries by individual farmers. Furthermore, the partici-
pation of the entire National Front and all mass organizations in assuring
purchase has been insufficient up to now.
In his speech at a meeting of officials of Prague Kraj, on 7 December,
Secretary-General Rudolf S]ansky indicated the following tasks in connection
with the purchase program:
T:? must continue the agricultural purchase projects with increased in-
tensi:;', with deadlines established by the kraj committees of the Party. For
this purpose, the presidiums of the kraj and okres committees of the Party
shall evaluate the previous results of the purchasing program and shall co-
ordinate all purchasing campaigns. Regularly they shall evaluate the 1rogress
of the purchasing program up to the time of fulfillment. They shall make
sure that the village Party organizations discuss the delivery fulfillments
of individual farmers, and that they persuade the small and medium farmers
of the importance of contracts and of the necessity of fulfilling voluntarily
accepted obligations.
The okras committees of the Party must also assure proper checking of
the work of economic cooperatives; they must daily check and evaluate the
fulfillment of purchase tasks, and must constantly improve their activity
on the basis of experiences gained. Workers in economic cooperatives must
daily persuade the farmers of the importance of contracts, the advantages
which they derive therefrom, and the fact that the fulfillment of contracts
is an honor and an obligation of each farmer as a citizen. In places where
a large percentage of grain has not yet been threshed, the threshing should
be organized and accelerated.
We must be conscious of the fact that proper purchasing will make it
possible to remove additional products from the ration list, reduce their
prices, and thus increase the living standard of all the working people.
The allocation of production and delivery assignments to individual
farmers in obeces began on 17 December 1949, so that the entire program,
including the signing of contracts, might be completed by 17 January 1950.
In assigning tasks, the production and delivery assignments established
by the okres national committee must be observed.,
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The assignment of the operational plan and the problem of concluding
contracts shall be discussed first by the committee meeting and then by
the membership meeting of the local organization of the Party. The com-
mittee of the organization shall submit a proposal to the Communist mem-
bers of the local national committee, and shall prepare with them a meet-
ing of the national committee to discusss the assignment and the conclu-
sion of contracts. At this meeting, a commission shall be designated to
prepare the obligatory figures of production and purchase assignments for
individual farmers. This commission shall be composed of the chairmen of
the following: the local national committee, the Party organization, the
extraordinary food commission, the Unified Agricultural Cooperative, and
the United Federation of Czech Farmers.
Before signing the contracts, it will be necessary that the principles
of assignment and the production and delivery tasks be discussed with the
individual farmers during personal visits; each Communist in a village must
take charge of several non-Communist farmers and discuss the assignments
with them personally. Finally, the committee and the membership meeting of
the organization shall discuss the commission's final proposal. Only then
is the proposal to be submitted to the farmers for discussion, at a meeting
to be called by the local national committee together with the local affili-
ate of the United Federation of Czechoslovak Farmer.. Then the farmers will
be summoned to the local national committee to sign the contracts.
In establishing assignments for individual farmers, the following prin-
ciple should be observed: "The large one should give more and the small ones
should be relieved." In some ckreses and obeces our organizations decided to
classify agricultural holdings into six groups according to size, to.be able
to evaluate production possibilities objectively and to establish delivery
assignments justly. The six groups are as follows: (1) under 2 hectares; (2)
2-5 hectares; (3) 5-10 hectares; (4) 10-15 hectares; (5) 15-20 hectares; and
(6) above 20 hectares.
This method can be recommended, but consideration should be given to
local conditions in individual obeces. The classification must not be car-
ried out mechanically. In evaluating individual farmers, one must also take
into consideration such factors as the quality of the soil, social conditions
of the family, extent of exploitation, number of hired hands employed, etc.
In plant production, the average yields and purchase for individual groups
shall be objectively determined on the basis of the average yield proposed for
the obec by the okres national committee. This determination of average yields
must correspond to the actual production possibilities of individual groups,
that is, larger agricultural holdings must be expected to achieve relatively
greater yields than small holdings.
In designating delivery assignments, the following should be kept in
mind: "Let the small and middle farmer sell as much as possible on the free
market, and the kulak as little as possible." This means that in assigning
delivery tasks we start with the groups of largest holdings, where the amount
to be delivered takes up almost all of the market quantity. For the other
groups of smaller holdings, the delivery assignments represent a greater or
smaller part of the market quantity, but in every case the over-all delivery
assignment of the obec must be assured. Seeds, plantings, industrial pota-
toes, oil plants, and sugar beets form an exception; all farmers must deliver
all quantities of these crops which they produce. In designating the assign-
ments of farmers in these latter groups, their hectare yields will be adjusted
in accordance with the quality of the soil and other circumstances.
In establishing production and purchase assignments for livestock produc-
tion, production possibilities for individual groups and the actual number of
farm animals per hectare must be designated. In regard to the number of beef
cattle and pigs and deliveries,of meat and milk, this will mean that the small
SECRET
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and medium farmers, who usually have larger numbers of beef cattle, will have
higher production and purchase assignments of beef per hectare. Therefore
they will be allowed greater numbers of cattle, because this means an increase
in income for them. For larger farmers, who usually do not have sufficient
numbers of beef cattle, the assignments are to be increased so that their barn
space may be filled.
In pig raising, we shall designate production for the small and medium
farmers in accordance with their barn space, and we shall also make their" de-
liveries easier.
In prescribing production assignments and delivery of milk, we must con-
sider the number of milk cows, the area of agricultural land in regard to fod-
der, and the number of cows used for draft purposes. Otherwise, the same prin-
ciples apply as in the establishment of delivery tasks for the various groups
in plant production. practically, this will mean that the quantity of milk per
cow, just as in the case of delivery, will be higher for larger agricultural
holdings.
We must also make sure that the barn space of kulaks is utilized; either
the larger farmers will be compelled to raise suitable numbers of livestock,
or their unused barn space will be used, in accordance with Law No 55/47 con-
cerning aid to farmers, for raising and fattening of stock by small farmers,
and especially by the Unified Agricultural Cooperatives.
For those Unified Agricultural Cooperatives which practice joint sowing
and cultivation, a joint production and delivery assignment will he established.
Within the limits of this assignment, tasks for individuals will be assigned in
accordance with the above-mentioned principles.
Contracts with farmers concerning production and delivery will be con-
cluded and signed simultaneously. It is necessary to make sure that members
or "trusted persons" of the okres extraordinary food commission be present
when contracts are signed with kulaks.
Along with the campaign of signing contracts, an inventory of land and
livestock will be carried out. Each farmer shall sign a special declaration
concerning the number of livestock and the area of land in his possession,
as of 1 January 1950, with the understanding that any concealed land or live-
stock may be confiscated by the state.
Each "trusted p.rson" of the okres extraordinary food commission must
regularly participate in the discussions of the commission which prepares
the assignments in the obec entrusted to him; he must advise and assist the
commission, and h.: must be present when contracts are signed with individual
farmers, especially with kulaks.
The assignment of target figures in the village is not merely an economic
matter; it is primarily a political matter. Therefore, the members and trusted
persons of the okres extraordinary food commissions must be chosen from among
the best factory workers, who have experience in production planning in their
enterprises and a good attitude toward the village. They will transmit their
experiences to the small and medium farmers, and will help them to expose the
kulaks, who will be prevented from further speculation and exploitation by the
just assignment of tasks.