Nikita Khrushchev in 1953 develops a plan that dramatically increases the agricultural production of the Soviet Union in order to alleviate the food shortage that affects the country's population. At the same time, he hopes not only to fill the necessary needs, but also tries to exceed the performance of Western countries when harvesting grain crops.
Development of a special plan to increase production
In September of the same year, a Central Committee Plenum was convened, with the participation, in addition to Khrushchev himself, of two assistants, several Pravda editors and one agronomist in order to determine the severity of the agricultural crisis. Earlier, George Malenkov received a loan to carry out reforms to solve the agrarian problem in the country. It was supposed to reduce taxes, as well as encourage individual agricultural plots.
Now Nikita Khrushchev was proposing his plan, which was based on the development of virgin lands in Kazakhstan. Thirteen million hectares of previously uncultivated land was to be plowed and cultivated. This land was located on the right bank of the Volga on the border of the North Caucasus, Western Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan.
For or against the development of new lands
The leader of the party of Kazakhstan, Shayakhmetov, specifically underestimated the potential for harvesting virgin lands. He did not want the Kazakh territory to be under Russian control. Many leading party members, such as Molotov, Malenkov and Kaganovich, were against the development of new land and expressed negative reviews. The virgin land will require huge costs, this plan did not look economical from a logical point of view.
But Khrushchev insisted that a huge amount of new land for cultivation is the only way to get a significant increase in yield in a short period of time. And the virgin lands are those people who will take the country's agriculture to a new level.
Thrilling adventure worth thirty million
Instead of allocating funds to pay for the labor of the local peasantry, Khrushchev is developing a special strategy for attracting new workers for development. This advertisement looked like a socialist adventure for Soviet youth. Agitation was carried out in schools, among graduate students, and in other educational institutions. And the first virgin lands are three hundred thousand Komsomol volunteers. In the summer of 1954 they went to the development of new lands.
After the first excellent harvest, Nikita Khrushchev increased his initial goals, and now not 13 million hectares of land were allocated for plowing, but about 30. Between 1954 and 1958 (these are the years of virgin land development) the state spent 30,700,000 rubles on cultivating new lands.
What crop did virgin land bring to the country?
In general, arable farming on virgin lands increased grain production and alleviated food shortages in a rather short term. Such enormous proportions and the initial success of the campaign were of historical significance for the state. But, nevertheless, significant fluctuations in grain production from year to year and a gradual decline in profitability did not meet Nikita Sergeyevich’s hopes in striving to surpass the US cereal harvest by 1960.
By the beginning of 1955, 200 thousand tractors were sent to the virgin lands, 425 state farms were created, and a total of 30 million hectares of land were plowed, 20 of which were allocated for harvest. Thanks to this, virgin soil in Kazakhstan justified the efforts expended, the total grain production in the country for this year was 60 percent more than the grain yield for the period from 1949 to 1953.
Climatic conditions, or Surprises, which were presented by virgin soil. A photo
But due to severe drought, and it was often found in areas of Kazakhstan, the plowed territories received only one tenth of the norm of rainfall, and next year the grain yield fell by 35 percent. At that time, Khrushchev was forced to admit the justice of some of the opposing points of view on how to develop virgin lands and whether it is worth exploring new lands. But, nevertheless, he continued to maintain that in the end the plan would be successful and would reimburse the costs.
The most successful crop was 1956. Grain yield from virgin lands increased by 180 percent compared with previous average. Encouraged by the success of the developed and implemented plan, Nikita Khrushchev even made an excursion to some virgin lands, during which he handed farmers various cash prizes, gifts, as well as appropriate medals.
Major Problems, or Labor Shortages
The area where the virgin lands were founded mainly consisted of rural settlements with a small population. The virgin lands were people who were specially attracted for the development of new lands. Mostly from poor villages, orphans and Komsomol enthusiasts. Poor living conditions forced many workers to pack up and leave the unfit region for the first few months.
Due to constant emigration, a catastrophic shortage of labor remained. In addition, due to the fact that people arrived young and inexperienced, they lacked the skills to work effectively both on tractors and combines, and in another area of production. During the virgin lands, 24 thousand different specialists were sent to the regions of Kazakhstan to develop new lands, but 14 thousand of them left this work almost immediately due to poor living conditions.
Lack of equipment and spare parts
Other problems remained that did not create favorable conditions for the development of production, despite the efforts of Nikita Sergeyevich to supply agricultural equipment to the virgin lands. Almost all newly released equipment was sent from Russian factories, however, the lack of equipment in the developed territories was still acutely felt. For 1959 in Kazakhstan for every 218 hectares of land there was only one tractor.
The country was not able to produce the number of cars that was required in connection with the sudden expansion of sown area. In addition, parts for equipment that were needed for simple repairs also remained in short supply. As a result, many tractors were not used, and simply because there were not enough spare parts to eliminate elementary damage.
Climate and soil features
Arable farming is not suitable for living in arid areas. And the area of virgin lands received only 200 to 350 millimeters of precipitation per year. And as a rule, they fell in July and August, when the grain ripens, or during harvesting. A drought occurred in the spring, at a time when young immature shoots are most in need of moisture.
In addition, the duration of the growing season was very short. Strong winds caused soil erosion, which is also characterized by a high salt content. Most likely, these reasons influenced the gradual decrease in grain productivity on virgin lands after 1959.
Extreme working conditions , or What the Soviet people are capable of
People who worked for the good of the country developed agriculture in regions that were practically unsuitable for this — they are virgin lands. Photos from those times show their joyful smiles, in some pictures you can even see how they are presented with prizes or awards. But did these workers know that many of their efforts were wasted?
Indeed, before Nikita Sergeyevich announced his plan for land development in Kazakhstan, there were very few storages for grain crops. Therefore, when the first harvest began, a significant amount was left in the area of rot. In addition, the lack of storage space forced farmers to hastily harvest during suitable weather.
This led to the fact that overripe and unripe grains were often mixed, and this caused a high moisture content and, as a result, spoilage of grain. If the yield in Kazakhstan averaged about 22 million tons, then storage tanks could only accommodate 10. From this we can draw the appropriate conclusions.
Who are the virgin lands? These are, first of all, people who, in almost extreme conditions, tried not only to fulfill the grain production plan established by Nikita Khrushchev, but also to overfulfill, as was customary during the Soviet era. And, as usual, the Soviet people even succeeded in what at first glance looked like impossible and incredible.