50 YEARS ago - in March 1954 - the development of virgin and fallow lands began. We are talking with Acting Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Agriculture of Russia Alexei GORDEEV about what this epic meant for the country then and what it makes us think about today.
Big bread
I THINK that this is a civic feat of those people who, half a century ago, regardless of any difficulties, went to settle in the steppe expanses. Living in the literal sense of the word. In the vast territories of the eastern regions of the country at that time there was not even settlements. How did the development of virgin lands begin? From canvas tents and trailers in the middle of endless steppes. But what a thrill the envoys from all over the country experienced when the first furrow was laid and the first bunker of golden grain was received!
I think that history gives each generation the opportunity to express themselves. More than one and a half million young people who went to develop virgin lands in the 50s may not have even thought that they were performing a feat. The realization of the scale of his work most likely came later. And then, in 1954-1960, people tirelessly and selflessly created the basis for the production of much-needed bread for the country. Big bread.
How pressing was the issue of grain supply then?
In the early 50s of the last century, the country had not yet recovered from the severe consequences of the Great Patriotic War. Grain production never reached 1940 levels. In 1953, only 31.1 million tons were harvested. This quantity was clearly insufficient to meet the needs of the population.
Therefore, the issue was extremely acute - it was necessary to create a base for increasing gross grain yields. And not only for food purposes. It was necessary to develop livestock farming, which also suffered greatly during the war.
Yes, considering the virgin epic from the perspective of today, one can argue about how justified this step was. As a matter of fact, there were doubts, as follows from various documentary sources, at that time. And yet, life has convincingly confirmed the feasibility of the strategic task set in 1954.
Indeed, there are different opinions on this matter. They say that it was easier to feed the country, which also lost more than thirty million citizens during the war, by restoring agriculture in the usual regions - in Ukraine, the Black Earth Region, and the Kuban. It would be both cheaper and more effective. What arguments could you give in defense of virgin lands?
It was possible to take a course towards intensifying agriculture in traditional areas for cultivating grain crops. But here two problems arose at once. The first is where to get resources? How to raise arable land that has become impoverished during the war years without fertilizers? And how without financial resources carry out land reclamation, especially in the arid Lower Volga region, in the swampy Non-Black Earth Region? Therefore, it was decided to use such a large reserve as natural fertility virgin and fallow lands in the east of the country - in Kazakhstan, Siberia and the Urals.
The second problem of that time was that a powerful mobilization campaign was needed to raise the labor enthusiasm of people to solve a large-scale national project. Could this be done without raising virgin soil? I think it's unlikely.
New granary
WHAT was the final result?
Over six years of work, about 42 million hectares of new land were included in economic circulation. Of these in Russian Federation- 16.3 million hectares. The largest areas were developed in the Altai and Krasnoyarsk territories, Orenburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kurgan, Chita, Saratov, Volgograd regions and in Bashkiria.
A new granary was created in the east of the country, producing large quantities of mostly high-quality food grains. Already in the first five years after the beginning of the development of virgin lands, the volume of government purchases of grain from strong varieties of wheat increased by 3.2 times, and durum wheat grain by almost four times.
Is it possible to estimate in numbers the entire half-century contribution of virgin lands to the country’s “loaf of bread”?
Over five decades, virgin lands produced more than 3.5 billion tons of grain, which is 45 percent of its gross harvest. Impressive? I think that these data put an end to the debate about whether it was worth or not worth developing these lands.
The 40th anniversary of the virgin lands epic was celebrated in Barnaul in 1994. How and where will we celebrate the half-century anniversary?
March 12 in Orenburg. Festive and solemn. This region was not chosen by chance. The Orenburg steppes half a century ago were completely different from what they are now. More than a dozen virgin villages arose on the territory of the region. By the way, the popular film “Ivan Brovkin in the Virgin Lands” was filmed at the Komsomolsky state farm in the Adamovsky district of the region. Two years ago I had the opportunity to visit this famous farm. It still confidently maintains its brand. There I met with some pioneers. When you listen to their memories, believe me, a lump comes to your throat. These are, without exaggeration, heroic pages in the history of our country. Believe me, as a participant in the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, this is emotionally understandable.
Judging by your words, the country managed to make a powerful breakthrough 50 years ago. But don’t you think that Russia is facing a task similar in severity and scale again? The country now even sells bread abroad. But the last few years are unlikely to go down in history as the most successful for Russian villagers and farmers.
Now the country faces a task no less important than in the 50s of the past. In the near future, it is necessary not only to significantly increase the efficiency of agricultural production and provide the country with its own food as much as possible, but also to intensify public policy for the social reconstruction of the village, to develop a strategy for the sustainable development of rural areas. In terms of its scale and socio-economic significance, this work is akin to a virgin lands epic. This, figuratively speaking, is virgin soil of our time. It needs to be raised, just like fifty years ago, by the whole country. Then Russia will have a decent future.
On February 23 – March 2, 1954, the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee took place. He considered the issue “On further increasing grain production in the country and the development of virgin and fallow lands. The Plenum identified specific tasks for Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Urals, the Volga region, and the North Caucasus: to expand grain crops in 1954-1955. through the development of virgin and fallow lands of no less than 13 million hectares and in 1955 obtain from these lands 1100-1200 million poods of grain, including 800-900 million poods of marketable grain. A mass movement for the development of virgin lands began in the country. In 1954, 13.4 million new lands were plowed, including 6.5 million hectares in Kazakhstan, that is, almost 50% of virgin lands1). By the beginning of 1955, the area of cultivated land increased by 8.5 million hectares, and 90 new state farms were created. In the fall of 1954, the creation of another 250 state farms began. In total, during the years of virgin lands development (1954-1960), 25.5 million hectares were plowed. To secure new lands labor force volunteers were mobilized from the western regions of the country, who were given significant benefits - free pass with property, cash benefits of up to 1 thousand rubles, a loan for construction of up to 20 thousand rubles for 10 years, up to 2 thousand rubles for the purchase of livestock, exemption from agricultural tax for two to five years. In total, for the development of virgin lands in 1954 - 1959. More than 20 billion rubles were allocated.
The first years of virgin lands development, except for the dry year of 1954, were quite favorable. In 1956, the country harvested a record harvest of 125 million tons of grain, of which 50% was obtained on virgin lands.
Hundreds of thousands of new settlers arrived on the virgin lands of Kazakhstan and Siberia, including more than 350 thousand boys and girls. At the call of the Komsomol, student groups went to the virgin lands every year. 425 grain state farms were created there, warehouses and elevators were built, and roads were laid. Over five years (1954-1950), 42 million hectares of virgin and fallow lands were developed. The country received additional tens of millions of tons of grain.
But virgin soil did not solve the grain problem. To do this, it was necessary to produce grain at the rate of 1000 kg per person per year. In 1959, the USSR produced a little more than 500 kg per person.
The problem of grain production for livestock and poultry feed (fodder) remains.
The disadvantage of the virgin lands epic was the lack of crop rotation, disregard for the rules of agricultural technology, and sowing grain by grain. All this led to the destruction of the soil structure. By the beginning of the 60s, land erosion appeared and grew on millions of hectares of former virgin land. Black storms lifted and carried away the most fertile layer soils hundreds of kilometers away. Vast areas of grain crops have turned into an ocean of weeds. For example, by 1960 in Northern Kazakhstan, due to the irrational development of virgin lands, more than 9 million hectares of soil were removed from economic use. Since the beginning of the 60s. Periodic droughts began, leading to the disaster of 1963, when for the first time the country was forced to purchase 12 million tons of grain worth $1 billion abroad to provide food. Field yields fell from 14 to 8 c/ha. National average grain yield in 1961-1964. amounted to 8.3 centners per hectare (in 1940 - 8.6 centners/ha).
The plowing of gigantic areas of virgin lands led to a sharp reduction in hay and pasture lands in Kazakhstan and the beginning of a long-term crisis in the traditional branch of agriculture of the republic - livestock breeding. In 1955, it was necessary to adopt a special resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and oblige 47 steppe regions and 225 state farms to raise beef cattle. Work began on irrigating the land and expanding the food supply. As a result, with great difficulty it was possible to raise total number livestock in the republic by 1960 to 37.4 million heads (in 1928 - 29.7 million heads).
Economic measures were complemented by increased government spending on rural needs, primarily through increased production of agricultural machinery. To eliminate the “dual power” on the land (MTS and collective farms), the government in 1958 decided to strengthen the material and technical base of the collective farm village by reorganizing machine and tractor stations (MTS) into repair and tractor stations (RTS). On February 26, 1958, the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee adopted a resolution “On the further development of the collective farm system and the reorganization of machine and tractor stations.” On March 31, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR formalized the decision of the Central Committee into law. Based on the resolution of the plenum and the state law of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, on April 18, 1958, they adopted a special resolution that determined the procedure for the reorganization of MTS. As of January 1, 1959, 56,791 collective farms purchased 482 thousand tractors and 214.5 thousand combines. This amounted to four-fifths of the tractor and two-thirds of the combine fleet located in the MTS system.
The steps taken by the state have strengthened Agriculture, contributed to the emancipation of the peasants. The village got back on its feet.
However, since the late 1950s, the agrarian policy of the party and government began to take openly administrative forms. Material incentives were replaced by coercion. This turn was covered up by concern for the peasant, his leisure and well-being.
In 1958 – 1959 two blows from the government undermined the rural economy and disrupted the process of expanded reproduction. Firstly, MTS equipment was not given to collective farms, nor was it sold in installments at the residual value. She was forced to ransom for enough high prices in a short time, within a year (until March 1959). In total, collective farms had to pay 16.6 billion rubles for the purchased cars. Since not everyone was able to pay on time, payments were extended for another year. At the same time, RTS ( state enterprises) began to dictate their prices for the repair of collective farm equipment.
The second blow was dealt to private farming, which at the end of the 50s produced from 40% to 60% of meat and dairy products, vegetables, fruits, and berries, while occupying less than 10% of agricultural land. On the initiative of N.S. Khrushchev began a new campaign against private household plots.
At the December (1958) plenum of the CPSU Central Committee N.S. Khrushchev called on rural residents and state farm workers to free themselves from livestock, primarily cows. He offered to sell it to collective farms or the state, and in return buy meat and dairy products from them. At his suggestion, the plenum ordered government agencies in 2-3 years, buy livestock from state farm workers and recommend that collective farms carry out similar work. So, the second de-peasantization of Soviet villagers began. In the 30s they were freed from the working horse, and in the early 60s - from the cow - the nurse.
In 1958–1964, the size of household plots on collective farms was also reduced by 12% (to 0.29 hectares), on state farms - by 28% (to 0.18 hectares). By the mid-sixties personal subsidiary plots degraded to the level of the early 50s. This exacerbated the food problem in the USSR.
On June 1, 1962, the government decided to stimulate state livestock farming by increasing retail prices for meat by one and a half times. The new prices did not increase its quantity, but caused unrest in the cities.
In 1963, there were shortages not only of meat, milk and butter, but also of bread. The country faced the threat of famine. Long lines of bread lined up outside stores overnight, provoking anti-government sentiments. It was necessary to introduce closed rationing of products: attachment to stores, consumer lists, bread cards; open the bins of state grain reserves, which were preserved even during the war; begin importing grain from Canada, the USA, Australia, and flour from Germany. This took many tons of gold from the untouchable gold reserves, accumulated for decades in case of war. Khrushchev explained this step by saying that “you can’t make porridge out of gold.” The export of gold ranged from 200 to 500 million dollars or up to five hundred tons per year. In fact, the USSR's gold reserves were used to support, strengthen and develop foreign farms, while the farms of Soviet peasants were persecuted. Imports continued until the 90s.
Since the food issue determines the political and economic atmosphere in the country, the food crisis of 1962–1963 became one of the main, if not main reason the fall of Khrushchev.
The seven-year economic development plan (1959-1965) in terms of agricultural production was a failure. Instead of the planned 70%, the growth was only 15%.
Kazakhstan
The development of virgin lands is a set of measures to eliminate the backlog of agriculture and increase grain production in the USSR in 1954-1960, through the introduction into circulation of vast land resources in Kazakhstan, the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East.
In 1954, the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee adopted a resolution “On the further increase in grain production in the country and on the development of virgin and fallow lands.” The USSR State Planning Committee planned to plow at least 43 million hectares of virgin and fallow lands in Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Volga region, the Urals and other regions of the country.
The development of virgin and fallow lands in 1954 began mainly with the creation of state farms. The development of virgin lands began without any preliminary preparation, in the complete absence of infrastructure - roads, granaries, qualified personnel, not to mention housing and repair facilities for equipment. The natural conditions of the steppes were not taken into account: sandstorms and dry winds were not taken into account, gentle methods of soil cultivation and varieties adapted to this type of climate were not developed
cereals.
The development of virgin lands has turned into yet another campaign, supposedly capable of solving all food problems overnight. Emergency work and storming flourished: here and there confusion and various kinds of inconsistencies arose. The course towards the development of virgin and fallow lands preserved the extensive path of agricultural development.
Huge resources were concentrated on the implementation of this project: from 1954 to 1961. virgin lands absorbed 20% of all USSR investments in agriculture. Because of this, the agrarian development of traditional Russian farming areas remained unchanged and stalled. All tractors and combines produced in the country were sent to the virgin lands, students were mobilized during the summer holidays, and machine operators were sent on seasonal business trips.
The development of virgin lands proceeded at an accelerated pace: if 13 million hectares were supposed to be plowed in two years, then in reality 33 million hectares were plowed. For 1954-1960 41.8 million hectares of virgin soil and fallow lands were raised. In the virgin lands, 425 grain state farms were created in the first two years alone; agricultural giants were created later.
Thanks to the extraordinary concentration of funds and people, as well as natural factors, the new lands produced extremely high yields in the early years, and from the mid-1950s - from half to a third of all bread produced in the USSR. However, despite the efforts, the desired stability could not be achieved: in lean years, even the seed fund could not be collected on the virgin lands, as a result of the disturbance of ecological balance and soil erosion in 1962-1963. Dust storms became a real problem. Development of virgin lands
entered a crisis stage, the efficiency of its cultivation fell by 65%.
From 1954 to 1955, 18 million hectares of land were raised in Kazakhstan. Agricultural machinery, machinery and equipment were brought to the republic in huge quantities; Local parts manufacturing businesses have also risen. Kazakhstan's communications network was also improving; house construction proceeded at a rapid pace, new buildings were quickly erected, and entire cities appeared in the almost bare steppe. Agriculture in 1953 - 1958 grew at a gigantic speed: sown areas expanded from 9.7 to 28.7
million hectares, gross grain harvest from 332 million to 1,343 million poods. The ranks of the virgin lands were replenished with more and more new settlers: in March 1954, 250 thousand young Komsomol members arrived in Kazakhstan, as well as 23 thousand people from the ranks of former soldiers of the Soviet Army.
Such a grandiose project as the development of several million hectares of wild land could not disappear without a trace in history. The echo of those years still influences our lives. For Kazakhstan it was of enormous importance: as positive as it was negative. Firstly, thanks to the gathering of all the country’s forces in the republic, new factories and factories appeared in Kazakhstan. New universities and schools specializing in agriculture were opened. Across the entire republic
Railway and road lines were extended, a communication system was being established. But at the same time, the widespread plowing of areas for agricultural land has caused irreversible unforeseen consequences. Perhaps the biggest negative point, which crosses out all the advantages with a bold cross new policy and all the brilliant achievements of economists of that period are erosion. Huge cultivated areas were literally swept away by winds quite typical for
Northern Kazakhstan. IN short term Most of the fertile layer was blown away by the wind. All the work to develop virgin lands was lost. The original nomadic economy of the Kazakhs, which had developed over centuries, was also disrupted - large territories suitable for pastures disappeared. Irreversible damage was caused to nature.
In total, over the years of virgin lands development in Kazakhstan, more than 597.5 million tons of grain were produced.
After the end of the campaign, about six million Russians and Ukrainians from the RSFSR and Ukrainian SSR remained in the Kazakh SSR. However, their number began to decrease after the collapse of the USSR and Kazakhstan gained statehood - hundreds of thousands of Slavs rushed back to their homeland. In 2000, 100 thousand people emigrated from Kazakhstan to Russia, in 2001 - 80 thousand, in 2002 - 70 thousand, in 2003 - 62 thousand, in 2004 - 64 thousand people.
The virgin lands epic changed the appearance of a number of RSFSR territories bordering Kazakhstan. In particular, in 1963, the Ust-Uysky district of the Kurgan region was renamed Tselinny, and the village. Novo-Kocherdyk in the village. Tselinnoye. During the period of virgin lands development, more than 1.5 thousand young people from Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, and Moscow regions arrived in the Ust-Uysky region.
About 4,000 virgin lands were awarded orders and medals, among them 5 Heroes of Socialist Labor.
The development of virgin and fallow lands in Kazakhstan began at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries with the completion of the construction of the Siberian Railway, which connected the European and Asian parts of the continent.
“The traditional form of livestock farming, which has developed in the Kazakh steppes since ancient times, will be completely preserved in the coming years. The forced imposition of such non-traditional activities as agriculture and grain production can subsequently turn these lands into deserts. In these steppes, serious farming is difficult for two types of reasons - natural and economic. Severe winters and dry summers in a number of areas will lead to the destruction of crops, and all work will be in vain. It would be one thing if the lands in Kazakhstan were rich in black soil. But this is not the case, and the impression of fertility that arises is deeply deceptive. In addition, water resources to ensure bountiful harvests in Kazakhstan are insufficient" (Mambetali Serdalin-Shubetov in a report to the Senate commission on the development of trade in Russian Empire March 8, 1890).
“There was a discussion: to develop agriculture in an intensive or extensive way. The arguments for intensification were much more convincing, but the leadership of the Soviet Union, represented by N. S. Khrushchev, preferred the extensive path of agricultural development...”
In total, over the years of virgin lands development in Kazakhstan, more than 597.5 million tons of grain were produced.
see also
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See what “Development of virgin and fallow lands” is in other dictionaries:
The development of virgin lands is a set of measures to eliminate the backlog of agriculture and increase grain production in the USSR in 1954-1960 by introducing vast land resources into circulation in Kazakhstan, the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East.... ... Wikipedia
Medal "For the development of virgin lands" ... Wikipedia
Award card Name = Medal “For the development of virgin lands” Image: ImageRibbon: Image2st = ImageRibbon2st = Image3st = ImageRibbon3st = OriginalName = Country = Flag of the USSR USSR Type = medal... ... Wikipedia In 1954, the development of virgin lands began. Trains from all over the USSR arrived in Kazakhstan from building materials
, prefabricated panel houses, agricultural machinery, mobile power plants, trucks. To the virgin lands together with machine operators... Wikipedia
A set of measures to eliminate the backlog of agriculture and increase grain production in the USSR in 1954–1960, through the introduction into circulation of vast land resources in Kazakhstan, the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East. Contents 1 History ... Wikipedia
"To virgin lands!"
The word “virgin land” no longer means anything to the current generation of Russians under 30 years old. Meanwhile, in the mid-50s, among the youth of that time it evoked a feeling of patriotic enthusiasm and enthusiasm, and hardly less than the word “space”. Of course: Komsomol members and students in whole groups went to conquer virgin lands, because here they saw not only the romance of youth, but also the opportunity to show themselves in a new business, to help their country and their people, no matter how loud it sounds in these days (Fig. 1 ).
“Malenkov came - we ate pancakes”
The era of large-scale development of virgin and fallow lands in the east of the USSR coincided with the beginning of the so-called “Khrushchev Thaw.” However, this warming came difficult and slowly in post-Stalin society, especially in such a conservative sphere as agriculture. As is known, after the death of Stalin, from March 6, 1953, the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was taken by the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Fig. 2),
His short reign is considered by historians to be the period of the first post-Stalin reforms in the Soviet economy.
This was announced on August 5, 1953, when Malenkov made a report at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, where he put forward a program to soften the party’s policy towards the peasantry. People then remembered his time in power with the apt phrase: “Malenkov came - we ate pancakes.” In general economic program, proclaimed by Malenkov, was aimed at increasing the people's well-being and reorienting industry towards the production of consumer goods. In relation to agriculture, it provided for the write-off of previous arrears on the tax in kind from collective farms, a halving of the tax itself, permission to increase the size of a personal plot five times, and a three-fold increase in purchase prices for wheat and rye. In connection with these reforms, in the mid-50s, Soviet agriculture experienced an unprecedented rise, which, however, three years later was interrupted by Khrushchev’s surge in the fight against personal plots and the growth of forced meat procurement.
It was Nikita Khrushchev, and not Malenkov, as many had previously assumed, who was elected First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on September 13, 1953 (Fig. 3).
On his initiative, in February-March 1954, a plenum of the CPSU Central Committee was held, which “with a bang” adopted the famous resolution “On the further increase in grain production in the country and on the development of virgin and fallow lands.” Such lands included vast steppe spaces not only in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, but also in the Volga region, Western Siberia and in the Far East.
This is what, in particular, this resolution said: “The plenum of the CPSU Central Committee sets before... the party, Soviet and agricultural bodies of Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Urals, the Volga region... the most important state task– expansion of grain crops in 1954-1955. through the development of fallow and virgin lands of no less than 13 million hectares and the receipt in 1955 of 1100-1200 million pounds of grain from these lands, including 800-900 million pounds of commercial grain.” And already at the beginning of March, the first trains with young virgin soil workers set off from Moscow in the direction of these endless steppes (Fig. 4).
Corn epic
Current experts believe that the Khrushchev leadership, seeing the desperate situation of the country in terms of food supply, tried to solve this problem not with new, but with the old Stalinist methods. Khrushchev and his circle began to achieve an increase in bread production in the country not by increasing the productivity of peasants and economic incentives, but by an extensive method, through the development of new land spaces in our vast country.
Nowadays, only a few remember that in the mid-50s, the Kuibyshev region also became a virgin farming zone. The first echelon of our fellow countrymen from regional center went to virgin lands on March 23, 1954. At the call of the Kuibyshev regional committee of the Komsomol, a total of 2,040 volunteers were sent here, including to the Chkalov, Amur, Omsk and Kokchetav regions, as well as to the south of our region.
In 1954–1955 alone, in the Bolsheglunitsky and Bolshechernigovsky districts, over 115 thousand hectares of virgin and fallow lands were raised, on the basis of which several farms operate here to this day - former collective farms and state farms of the Soviet era. The most famous of them is the Yuzhny state farm in the Bolsheglushitsky district, for the creation of which in the spring of 1954 more than 200 Komsomol members from different corners countries, first of all, of course, from Kuibyshev (Fig. 5-9).
By the fall, several dozen residential buildings, an office, a dining room and a club had been erected on the central estate of the state farm. And in total, over the next three years, the young virgin lands of Yuzhny developed over 8 thousand hectares of previously unused land, on which up to 40 centners of wheat per hectare were grown in good years.
It was during the period of virgin land development that Khrushchev launched his famous campaign to grow corn, which was then called the “queen of the fields” in the press. In particular, the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated April 15, 1954 “On the further development of state farms of the Ministry of State Farms of the USSR and increasing their profitability” said the following in this regard: “To condemn as harmful to the business the underestimation by many state farm workers of the importance of cultivating corn, in as a result of which specific gravity corn in the crops is extremely insignificant, and the yield due to non-compliance with basic requirements of agricultural technology in most state farms is at an unacceptably low level.” Among the regions where corn crops were ordered to be increased first of all, the Kuibyshev region was named (Fig. 10-15).
At the same time, there were some incidents when individual officials, in their official zeal, tried to plant this culture even where it was unacceptable due to climatic conditions. Thus, the “queen of the fields” did not live up to its promise in many farms in the southern, steppe part of our region, much to the disappointment of the regional party leadership. The fact is that for normal development this plant requires a significant amount of water, which the arid Trans-Volga region has always experienced an acute shortage of.
Oddly enough, Khrushchev declared that the main culprit for his miscalculations in the implementation of the “Virgin Land Epic” was... Georgy Malenkov. At a meeting of the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee on January 25, 1955, he was credited with a “bias towards “revisionism,” and as a result, Malenkov was dismissed. Instead, Nikolai Bulganin became the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, who during the 20s - 50s held leadership positions in a variety of Soviet departments, including the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, but was unable to prove himself anywhere. As a result, after two years, Khrushchev had to replace Bulganin due to his complete incompetence in economic matters.
Nevertheless, Khrushchev continued to try to improve the country’s agriculture using administrative methods. Just look at his famous slogan: “Let’s catch up and surpass America in the production of meat and milk.” However, it was impossible to achieve a 3-4-fold increase in production using collective farms alone, and therefore the authorities decided to increase these figures by withdrawing food from the personal farms of peasants. And soon voluntary-compulsory purchases of livestock from peasants began in the country. Dairy cattle were sent to farms, the rest to slaughter. In this regard, in 1959, meat production in the USSR increased by a third, but two years later it fell noticeably, as the basis of livestock farming was undermined (Fig. 16).
In those same years, a struggle began in the countryside with personal plots, which began to be sharply reduced, and in some places even taken away. The authorities explained that peasants who had large farmsteads simply could not work well on the collective farm. The collective farm tax was also increased. But soon all of the above measures had the opposite effect. In 1962, due to a reduction in agricultural production in the country, the authorities had to raise prices for meat and dairy products, which caused a new wave of popular indignation. As you know, in Novocherkassk, Rostov region, this discontent resulted in a mass demonstration of workers, which was suppressed by military force.
Winston Churchill joke
Now only old-timers remember that in the early 60s, shortages of bread began in many regions, which forced the Soviet government in 1962 to purchase grain grain abroad for the first time in the country’s history. This also affected trading network Kuibyshev region. It was then that, unexpectedly for everyone, the most common food products suddenly began to disappear from sale. Sugar, butter, milk, sausage, children's semolina and even white bread fell into the deficit category. In connection with this situation, some Kuibyshevites, inspired by the debunking of the Stalinist cult of personality, began to write complaints to the party and Soviet authorities. Some of the authors of such letters became so bold that they directly blamed Khrushchev personally for the food crisis.
Party bodies immediately responded to the “signals” of citizens - however, in a very unique way: they began to transfer letters to ... state security agencies, which initiated criminal cases for many of them under Art. 70 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda). The authors of the messages were usually charged with “disseminating slanderous fabrications against the leaders of the CPSU Central Committee and the Soviet government and the policies they pursued, slandering the situation of workers in the USSR.” In total, during 1963-1964, under Article 70 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR and with similar charges by Kuibyshevsky regional court Over a dozen people were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
It is unknown what would have happened next if at the extraordinary plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, held almost 45 years ago - on October 12, 1964, Khrushchev had not been dismissed. And the result of his agricultural policy was aptly summed up by Winston Churchill’s joke: “If before I thought that I would die of old age, now I know that I will die of laughter. Bringing Russia to import grain is brilliant!” In our country, the joke was even shorter: “Khrushchev sowed grain in virgin lands and harvested it in Canada.”
Political and environmental costs
Now we can already say that in that memorable campaign for the massive development of virgin and fallow lands in the USSR in the 50s and 60s, there was much more negativity than positivity. Unfortunately, in our country they started talking about this in full voice only many years after those events. Here's how Wikipedia says it.
“The development of virgin lands has turned into yet another campaign, supposedly capable of solving all food problems overnight. Emergency work and storming flourished: here and there confusion and various kinds of inconsistencies arose. The course towards the development of virgin and fallow lands preserved the extensive path of agricultural development.
Huge resources were concentrated on the implementation of this project: during the years 1954-1961, virgin lands absorbed 20% of all USSR investments in agriculture. Because of this, the agricultural development of traditional Russian farming areas remained unchanged and ultimately stalled for many years. All tractors and combines produced in the country were sent to the virgin lands, students were mobilized during the summer holidays, and machine operators were sent on seasonal business trips.
The development of virgin lands proceeded at an accelerated pace. If 13 million hectares were supposed to be plowed in two years, then in reality 33 million hectares were plowed. During 1954-1960, 41.8 million hectares of virgin soil and fallow lands were raised. In the virgin lands, 425 grain state farms were created in the first two years alone; agricultural giants were created later.
Thanks to the extraordinary concentration of funds and people, as well as natural factors, the new lands produced ultra-high yields during the first years, and from the mid-1950s - from half to a third of all bread produced in the USSR. However, despite efforts, the desired stability could not be achieved. In lean years, they could not even raise a seed fund in the virgin lands. As a result of ecological imbalance and large-scale soil erosion in 1962-1963, dust storms became a real disaster. Already in the mid-60s, the development of virgin lands entered a stage of crisis, the efficiency of its cultivation fell by 65%.”
From the memoirs of N.S. Khrushchev (1970):
“When we had already plowed a large number of hectares of virgin land, terrible dust storms occurred in Kazakhstan. Clouds of earth rose into the air, the soil eroded. If farming in steppe conditions is carried out culturally, then long-known means of combating erosion, tested in practice, are used, including planting protective strips of tree plantings: a difficult and expensive undertaking, but one that pays off. There are also certain agricultural practices. People have to reckon with natural processes and adapt to them, contrasting their imagination with wild nature.”
From the memoirs of V.M. Molotov (1977):
“Virgin lands began to be developed prematurely. Of course, this was absurdity. This size is a gamble. From the very beginning, I was a supporter of the development of virgin lands on a limited scale, and not on such a huge scale, which forced us to invest huge amounts of money and incur colossal expenses instead of raising what was already ready in populated areas. But there is no other way. You have a million rubles, you don’t have any more, so should you give them to virgin lands or to already populated areas where there are opportunities? I proposed investing this money in our Non-Black Earth Region, and gradually raising the virgin soil. They scattered funds - a little for this and a little for that, but there is nowhere to store the bread, it rots, there are no roads, it is impossible to take it out. But Khrushchev found an idea and rushes like a Savras without a rein! This idea does not definitely solve anything; it can help, but to a limited extent. Be able to calculate, estimate, consult what people will say. No - come on, come on! He began to swing, gnawed off almost forty or forty-five million hectares of virgin land, but this was unbearable, absurd and unnecessary, and if there were fifteen or seventeen, it would probably have been more useful. More sense” (Fig. 17, 18, 19).
By the way, there is a version (though not yet confirmed by official declassified documents) that, as part of the development of virgin lands, the KGB of the USSR also simultaneously carried out a “cover operation” during the construction of a huge missile test site in Kazakhstan (now the Baikonur Cosmodrome). The disguise was needed to mislead Western intelligence agencies. After all, it is clear that when transporting such a large amount of cargo and people from the European part of the USSR to Kazakhstan, it was easy to hide in these flows both trains with building materials and parts of the construction troops, who were heading to the area where the cosmodrome was being built at that very time.
