EXPERIMENTAL PLANTING OF WINTER WHEAT IN KARAGANDA OBLAST

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360647-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 647
• Publication Date: December 6, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ftEPOR1
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
r T -~
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL ?~~it~~YE~ r 1~~,
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Scientific -Biology, Weather-resistant crops
HOW" ?
PUBLISHED Bimonthly periodical
WHERE
PUBL'ISIiED Moscow
DATE
PUBLISHED Apr 1949
LANGUAGE Russian
TNIS DOCUY[NT CONTAIN! IMIORYATION AF/[CTINO iN[ NATIONAL DlI[NS[
01 TN[ UNIT[0 STAT[! MITNIN TN[ Y[ANINO Oi [l IIONAS[ ACT SO
Y. !. C.. 31 ~ ND 32. A! AY [ND[D. ITf TRAXl YIlSION OR T ' ^[V[LATIOR
01 Iii CONi[NT! IN AXT YAMN[R i0 AN UNAVTNORIZ[0 ' ..ON IS IRO?
NI SIT[D RT LAV. RSIROOUCTION OI TNIS TORY Il IRONI lIi[D.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1949
DATE DIST. ~ Dec 1950
NO. OF PAGES to
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Agrobiologiya, No 2, 1949, pp 21-28,
i
50X1-HUM
A. A. Zaytseva
Karaganda Agr Expt Sta
Dolinka., Karaganda Oblast
~ables referred to are appended]
Natural Conditions
The climatic conditions in Karaganda Oblast ~approx 49?-501x, 73?-TOTE]
are severe. The mean annual atmospheric temperature is ~2o C. The absolute
minimum temperature on the surface of the ground is -44.6? C in January.
The absolute maximum temperc:?,ure is +68.8? C is July. Spring freezing is
probable until 20 June, and early snow is possible by the 20 August. Only
July is Pree of .freezing temperatures. The diurnal temperature fluctuation
is very pronounced.'?'
' The amount of precipitation ie insignificant. During the period 1931-
191+8, the average annual precipitation was 217.7 mm, with the variation being
from 132.2 mm in 1940, to 419.7 mm in 1947. The maximum precipitation was in
July, eltrough in about 5096 of the cases there was a shift to an earlier date.
The prevailing winds are southwest, resulting in blizzards in tLe winter
and dry winds or sometimes dust storms in the summer. The storms blow the
snow from unprotected fields; and an unequal distribution of snow on the
ground exists in?the region. ,
The depth of the snow averages 18 cm and varies from 11 to 25 cm. By the
first of April, the snow usually has completely thaxed, but the temperature
of the soil surface at this period cari be as low as -27.2?. ~?
STATE
ARMY
co~fm?"rr"i
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The high temperatures and winds cause considerable evaporation of moisture.
The evaporation from open water surfaces during the vegetation period averaged
969 mm from 1931 to 1942.
The lowest relative humidity exists in June, when the caring and flowering
take place and the ripening of the xinter grain begins.
The soils are principally light-colored, of light-weight composition, with
little humus content, and of fine sad unstable texture.
The Cultivation of Winter Wheat
Work with winter wheat at the Karaganda Agricultural Experimental Station
was started in 1932?
At the station, in the years 1932 to 1942, winter wheat planted on fallow
land wintered more or less safely, only three times. For seven of the years
it was either completely or in great part destroyed by frost.
Since 1943, an improvement has been made in the agricultural technique by
sowing winter wheat in stubble, which is more appropriate tinder local condi-
tions. During the 6-year period 1943-1948, winter wheat ?was transferred to
stubble-sowing and made a completely resistant culture.
Since 1936, winter wheat hen been sown on fallox land in small amounts
under actual production conditions. Since fall of 1942, more of the wheat
was planted in stubble each year until in 1945 it was nearly sll sown in the
summer crop stubble (Table 1).
Since 1948 winter wheat was planted on fallow land only in special experi-
mental plots. There was no damage by freezing.
In 1942-43, there was a great deal of broadcasting (dispersed sowing) in
the stubble, with subse4uent closing by a harrow, which produced no sprouting
at all. The high percentage oP loss was characteristic of the "idle" ~sllox
field], but not of the stubble sowing. In the following years broadcasting
was not used and damage to the seed was attributed partially to freezing (1944-
45), but largely to the insufficient development of the agricultural technique
of stubble-sowing under local conditions, and in some cases to the poor imple-
mentation of the sowing technique.
During sll the years, the harvest of winter wheat from the stubble fields
was greater than that from the fallow fields. In 1948, the field on which the
winter wheat was grown had been fertilized with ammonium nitrate in the amount
of 1 centner per hectare. The harvest was calculated only for 700 hectares.
The additional yield from the fertilized seed was 3.7 centnera per hectare.
On an average, the fertilized areas yielded 11.0 centners per hectare.
Thus, in large growing areas the problem of cultivating winter wheat in
the stubble of the summer crop under conditions prevailing in the Karaganda
Oblast has been solved successfully. At the same time, the behavior of win-
ter wheat cultivated on fallow land is completely irregular.
Can Winter Wheat Be Cultivated on Fallow Land Between Rows?
At the experimental station the fallow between rows of sunflowers, saf-
flower, corn, sorghum, and African millet was used for the sowing of winter
wheat. The distance between rows was narrowed from 12 to 1.8 meters (single-
row horse-drawn drill). Even in such closely spaced rows of long-stem plantar
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~ ~' GD~IFIDEP~TIA~
70-1OOy6 of the wheat crop froze in the winter of 1945-46. The printer wheat
crop is sufficiently safe only when sown between corn or sorghum rows which
are 90 cm apart. $oxever, iu this case the intersticial fallow is narrower
than for normal sowing of intersticial crops, and the winter crop is actually
not sown oa fallow land bat on the stubble of the intertilled cr. op. In it-
self it is not practical to grow corn and sorg:lum on bogara~ name used in
Central Asia for cultivated fields which are irrigated by rain only, without
the aid of artificial irrigation] due to the low yield of the grain and its
being frozen by early autumn frost. Sunflowers are not practical for this
system in view of the impossibility of sowing winter wheat in its rows before
reaping the harvest.
Generally speaking, we came to the conclusion that intersticial fallow
is as unsuitable for sowing of winter wheat as ordinary fallow.
Conditions for the Emergence of Seedlings in Fall and Wintering Crons
Simultaneous and timely sprouting is one of the important prere2uisites
indicating successful wintering of winter crops. In years with moist falls,
the production of seedlings depends only on the time of sowing and the care
taken in carrying it out. Ia dry years, even in black, well-worked fallow,
it is very difficult to retain the moisture necessary for simultaneous sprout-
ing of the seed.
In all the years of the test there were seedlings of the winter crop but
usually they appeared late, at the end of September or in October.
Attempts to obtain good sprouting when the seed is planted !?eeply in dried-
out land which contains only a fraction of the necessary moisture result in
failure: there is then considerable loss of seed in sprouting.
In stubble, the seeds are planted at a depth of 2-4 cm. Sprouting takes
place uniformly and simultaneously, and the determining factor ie the moisture
of the soil.
Depending on the fall precipitation, winter wheat plants frequently start
wintering in the two'-ledflet~stage and do not.sprout: The.test'indicateg that for
late fall planting (15 October 1947) the plants winter in the seedling stage,
and differ from those p~.anted earlier (15 September) by a five-day lag in Bar-
ing. The yield of grain for the 15 of September planting is 9.4 centners per
hectare and for the 15 of October 9.6 centners per hectare.
The process of prewinter hardening proceeds more successfully in stubble
than on fallow land. Well-hardened plants do not die during the first half
of winter even at quite low temperatu,es.
As many investigations showed, the destruction of winter wheat plants in
fallow occurs in the second half of winter. In such cases, the plants sprout
from under the snow with brown leaves and cracks in the tillering bundles.
Thinning-out of the stubble crop occurs in the epri.ng when it comes out
from under the snow. The plants do not bush, have a pale color, and begin
to die.
As established by T. D. Lysenko (nee entry 9 in bibliography), this de-
struction is connected with the lack of nitrogen in the spring and starva-
tion of the plant.
By our testa it was established that wheat plants collected on 16 May
1948 which were cultivated in summer wheat stubble contained different
amounts of total nitrogen, depending on whether fertilizer w:.s added in
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CONFIDENTIAL
the spring or not. The yield of plants on land to which fertilizer had bees
added was greatly increased (Table 2).
The insufficiency of nitrogen ie compensated by the addition of fertilizer
in the spring. After the addition o: fertilizer, the plants developed in an en-
tirely normal manner and in the final analysis their grain yield was increased.
Thus, stubble insures a reliable survival of winter wheat. The plants planted
on fallow land are not hardened as thoroughly and are damaged during the winter
by mechanical disruption of tissue.
Planting and Care of Winter Wheat
Sowing standards for winter wheat in both stubble and on fallow land were
studied for 2 years. A sowing standard of 3-4 million seeds Cper hectare?] was
Pound to be sufficient for bogara. For irrigated land, it is 25-30~, higher.
The weight norm adopted in actual practice is 100 kilograms for bogara, and 1.20-
125 kilograms for irrigated land, which corresponds to 3-U m:Ilion with as abso-
lute weight of seed amounting to 25-30 grams.
During the first 2 years of cultivating the winter crop in stubble, the in-
fluence of the friability of the soil on the wintering of the plants and the
yield of the grain was studied (Table 3).
It can be seen from the table that negative results were obtained. Tilling
the stubble before sowing results in freezing the winter wheat and reduction of
the wheat yield, and also of the yields of'wintPr rye'.
Therefore, great care should be given to tilling the soil before planting
the previous crop. In preparing the fallow land before spring wheat, one must?
turn the bed of perennial grass by plow to a depth of 24-26 cm. Preparation of
the soil before sowing and sowing the preceding crop is conducted with great
care and with 'a maximum leveling of the soil,surface.in order td cz'ea'te f8vor-
able conditions for winter wheat. In the tillering period, the previous crop
is worked with e rotary-hoe. The surface of the soil is made friable by this
process and ruts from the wheels of tractors and drills, which disturb the ac-
curate placing of winter wheat seed, are eliminated.
The effect of fertilizer on the yield of winter wheat was studied under
conditions of a special tea-field graesfield crop rotation. The winter wheat
was sown in the stubble of the summer. wheat which had been planted in black
~, fertilized faJ.low. Prior to 1947, the winter wheat did not receive nitrogenous
' ?fertilizers in the spring and the grain yield was lower. The response of winter
wheat to the fertilizer applied before the summer wheat is characterized by the
data in Table 4.
On an average, during 3 years, (1945-1947) the yield oP winter wheat was
56~ of the yield of summer wheat (the preceding crop). In 1947, in small areas
and in 1948, in the whole test area, fertilization of the winter wheat by am-
monium nitrat~:~ was used in the amount ox' 30-50 kilograms per hectare. As a
result, the ratio of yields of winter and summer wheat wee inverted (Table 5).
~...
The introduction of fertilizer significantly increased the yield of grain,
and the effect of the fertilizer added to fallow land wee clearly noticeable
as the yield of winter wheat exceeded that of the summer wheat by 30-406. The
fertilization of winter wheat by nitrogen for 2 years gave an increase?of grain
yield illustrated in Table 6.
GONF'IDENTIA~
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In moist years, nitrogen fertilizer doubles the yield of winter wheat, and
in dry ones. it increases it by 30 to 4796 as an analysis of the extensive production
test of 1948 shows.
An insufficient supply oP soil moisture reduces the yield of winter wheat.
In areas with properly organize3 irrigation, the grain harvest remains high from
year to year.
Due to the early trapping of even small snowfalls by the stubble of the pre-
vious crop, further snow accummulation is facilitated and the depth of the snow
cover reaches 50-70 cm.
Spring maintenance consists of fertilizations effected after early morning
frosts, of raking the stubble with horaedrawn rakes (if it is too dense or high;
and of making the surface of the soil more friable by the rotary hoe.
As was demonstrated by the results of the production teat, the conditions
'necessary for the success of atubbl.e sowing muE~ be the general improvement of
cultivation and tillage, the careful completion of all operations for tilling
the soil and planting (straight row, correct operation of each disk, and proper
operation of the rotating appliance insuring the accurate sowing of each seed),
and adequate tending of the plants. The loss due to freezing in the planting
~of winter wheat is usually the result of poor planting, the unevenness of the
soil worked before the previous crop, and the reduction of the sowing norm ~ow-
ing standard equals number of seeds per unit area]. Even in years with great
loss from freezing (1945), when freezing of some of the steppe flora occurred,
there was a good yield of the winter crop on individual fields where there was
a uniform stand and good protection of the plants.
Good yield of the previous crop is an indication for a good winter wheat
yield.
The test also shows that not ,just any section is suitable for planting
winter wheat. Winter wheat is a more exacting culture than winter rye and re-
quires more fertile soil. Thus, in 1948 the yield of grain at the test station
varied from 9.6 to 23.4 centners per hectare, depending on the fertility of the
soil. Therefore, winter rye is introduced in crop rotation in raised sections
with poor soil subject to being blown away by the wind. Winter wheat is planted
in crop rotation in low sections with coarser soil, in particular sections where
there is estuary irrigation.
The Position of Winter Wheat in Grassfield Crop Rotation
The relative effectiveness of various alternations of winter and sun.mer
wheat were studied in a special crop rotation. '
From the data. of Table 7, the superiority of summer wheat over winter rye
can be seen. Summer wheat on a yearly average over 8 years produced 1.2 centners
more grain per hectare than winter rye. Therefore the fallow land must be di-
verted to the leading crop of the eastern territories -- summer wheat.
Hard summer wheat is usually planted on perennial grass beds, and in rotation,
soft wheat. The investigation of the planting of winter wheat itt the stubble of
the summer harvest was conducted in 1948 (Table 8).
The wittter wheat was fertilized with ammonium nitrate in the amount of 1
centner per hectare. The increase of grain per hectare for two crop rotation
fields was around 1.1 centners, besides saving fuel for tilling and working the
whole crop rotation field before planting.
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~41~FIQf I~Ts",11
The preceding teats provide grounds for the belief that winter wheat has
two very reliable positions in crop rotation: in the stubble of summer wheat
which is planted in fallow, and in the stubble of summer wheat planted on a
perennial grass Led.
Stubble-Sowing ae the.Preceding Stage in the Case of Other Rotation Crops
During 1947-1948, th~ station first checked the yield of spring wheat on
plots, one of which was a bed of 3-year old lucerne, and the other a "stubble
bed" resulting from 2-year planting of winter wheat (Table 9).
Similar results were received from both plots and the test was extended.
Introduction of_Wiater Wheat into the Sowing Practice of the Oblast
In the winter of 1948, a team of scientific workers of the Karaganda Ex-
periment Station did considerable work in selecting areas for sowing winter
wheat in Karaganda Oblast and in popularizing the test by reports and publica-
tions. At the time of sowing, the workers from the station issued immediate
instructions at the working points.
In the kolkhozes and eovkhozea of Karaganda Oblast, considerable areas of
winter wheat were sown in stubble. Winter wheat has been definitely taken into
the field crop rotation system of Karaganda Oblast.
1. Zaytaeva, A. A., "Methods of Cultivating Winter Wheat on Stubble in
Our Oblast;" Sotaialisticheskaya Karaganda, No 157, 8 Aug 1948.
2. Kornilov, A. A., and Zaytseva, A. A., "Crop Rotation for Karaganda
Oblast," Sotsialisticheskaya Karaganda, No 2 (2703), 4 Jan 1946.
3. Koatyuchenko, I: A., "Agricultural Science Serves Russia," Sotsielisti-
cheakoye Zemledeliye, No 134, 13 Nov 1943.
4. Lysenko, T. D., "Completion in Time of the Problem of Planting Winter
Wheat is Siberia," Dok v-s Ak Selkhoz Nauk imeni Lenin, No 7-8, 1942.
5. Lysenko, T. D., "Methods of Controlling the Hibernal Loea of Winter
Crops in Siberia," Sotsialisticheskoye Karaganda,-No 183, 5 Nov 1943.
? 6. Lysenko, T. D., "What is the Na+,ure of Our Proposal to Plant Winter
Crops in Stubble on the Steppes of Siberia?" Sovkhoznoye?Proizvodstvo, No 4,
1944.
7. Lysenko, T. D., "The Cultivation of Winter Wheat on the Steppes of
Siberia:" Sotsielisticheskoye Zemledeliye, No 142, 30 Nov 1944.
$. Lysenko, T. D., "The Cultivation of Winter Wheat on ?the Steppes of
Siberia," Sovkhoznoye Proizvodstvo, No 10-11, 1945?
9. Lysenko, T. D., "Tasks of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences
imeni Lenin in the Light of the Decree of the Plenum of the TeK VKI'(b) on Measures
for Improving Agriculture in the Postwar Period," Selektsiya i Semonovodstvo, No 3,
1947.
50X1-HUM
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10. Lysenko, T. D., "Winter Wheat in the Fields of Siberia," Izveatiya,
No 41, 19 Feb 1948.
11. Fedulov, L. P., "Reports on a Group of Crop Rotation Tests at the Ksxa-
ganda Experiment Station for the Period 1945-1948."
Production of Alabasskaya Winter Wheat
Planting in Karaganda Oblast
Alabasskaya Winter Wheat
Ratio of
Planted Areas Deatr~ed Crop Yield of Grain
~
~~
(~i of planted area)
Yr of
centners~
Harvest Fallow Stubble Fallow St
bbl
u
e Fallow Stubble
1944 47 53 34.0 56.0 3.9
52 48
4
5?~+
27.
6.7 3.7
1945
9 91 8
4.0
9.0 68.5 0.7
1946
93 84
4.5
.6 40.7 5.2
1947 6
8.8
loo 3.2 -
1948 0
o
8.5
l
o
o.o -
8.3
Nitrogen Content in Alabasskaya Wheat Plants
('~ of absolute dry weight) and Grain Yield
Nitrogen ~, in Plant Grain Yield
Tillering
Plot Leaves Bundles Whole Plant Centners ha
Without ferti-
lizer
With 1 centner
of Ammonium
nitrate ferti-
li.zer~ha
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4.08 2.82 3.9G 10.3 130
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C~~IFIDENTI~~
Table 3
Effect of Tilling Stubble in Fall
on Yield of Winter Crop
Yield of Grain (centners/ha)
Types of
Tilling
Winter
Wheat
Winter
~
x
Winter
Wheat
Winter
R~
Winter
Wheat
Winter
R
.
_
_
~ee -
Untilled
4.7
4.1.
2.3
.4.1
12.0.
9.2
Cultivating
4.4
4.4
-
-
8.5
Disking
4.5
5.9
0.7
3.0
_
_
Yield of Tsezium III Summer Wheat
and Alabasskaya Winter Wheat
Variations of
Summer Wheat
Winter :.'heat
Fertilizer in
Fallow
ti
Centers ha
~, ,
Centers ha
~$
Without fertilizer
12.8
100
7.4
lOC
6o kg/ha of P2o5
in superphosphatea
14.1
110
7.6
lp3
20 tons of manure/ha
14.9
116
8.4
114
2'!
1945
Variations of
Fertilizer in
Fallow
Average Yields of Summer and Winter Wheats During
2 Years, 1947-1948 (centners/ha)
Tsezium.III
(preceding crop)
Yield of
Alabasakaya Winter Wheat
(fertilizer supplying
30-50 k of N) (y6 oY summer
centners ha ~ wheat yield)
Without ferti-
lizer
60 kg/ha of P205
in superphosphates
20 tons of manure/ha
';~ ~.
centners ha
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Table 6
Yield of Winter Wheat on Fertilization
In Stubble of Summer
'.!heat Planted in Un-
fertilized Fallow
8.7
30-5o kg/ha of nitrogen
in ammonium nitrate 19.0
Increase due to fertilizer
(centners/ha)
1948 Qvg :Por
Yr
2.4
31
Yield of Winter Eye and Summer Wheat
on Black Fallow Fertilized with Manure
(centners/ha)
1941
1942
1943
1 44
~
_
Winter
rye
5.9
12.1
7.7
7.9
Summer
wheat
8.1
9.1
9.2
8.1
Grain Yield in 1947 and 1948
(centners/ha)
of Crops 1~7 ly~FB 2 Yr
Summer wheat
on perennial
grass bed 22.4 -
6.3
75
Avg for 8 Yr
1 4 1 46 1 Cent-
9 5 9 9?+7. 1948 ners ha
8.3 20.9 23.0 23.5 13.7 loo
11.5 24.3 26.5 22.4 14.9 109
Grain yield
Alternation Total for
of Crops 147 19?+8 2 Yr
Summer wheat
on perennial "
grass bed 22.4 - -
Winter wheat Suammer wheat
on stubble - 16.5 ~ - after plowing - 14,4
Total - - 3$?9 * Total - -
~~Text says 1.1 centners/ha increase, table shows 2.~
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~O~FIDEN?~A~
Table 9
Yield of 'Winter Wheat in Re7.ation to Bed
(centnere/ha) ..
Tyre of Bed
Bed of 3-year
old lucerne
1 8
Stubble bed of
2 years of planting 23.1
COftF'IDEPTIAL
Avg for
2 Yr
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