Investment in agriculture and the Virgin Lands Scheme

What measure did Khrushchev introduce in 1955?

Individual collectives were given greater powers to make decisions at local level.

What did Khrushchev abolish?

The MTS (Machine and Tractor Stations)

What did Khrushchev replace the MTS with?

A system that expected each collective to buy its own machinery which was rather naive and unrealistic considering the lack of money the peasantry had.

How did Khrushchev change the size of collectives?

They were increased in size with many becoming large agro-industrial villages that linked food production with food processing.

What were the results in increasing the size of the collectives?

They created greater economies of scale and there was a rapid increase in mechanisation, fertilisers and irrigation. BUT they were deeply unpopular with the peasants who felt very divorced from the land they worked.

What was the system of procuring (seizing) replaced with?

Planned state purchases and the prices given for state procurements increased

How would the peasants feel about the new system of planned state purchases?

It would have encouraged greater productivity among the peasants and happiness as they would have received a greater income and would be able to keep some food for themselves.

What greater concessions were given to peasants?

They could now sell produce at private markets

What was the impact of the concessions given to peasants?

It encouraged peasants to grow more food and ensured more regular food supplies for the population. Productivity was higher on private plots than on collective fields and nearly all the eggs produced came from private plots.

When was the Virgin Lands Scheme introduced?

1954

What was the Virgin Lands Scheme?

It encouraged the opening up of new areas to agricultural production.

Volunteers were often members of the young communist league (Komsomol) and they were put to work in areas such as Siberia and Kazakhstan

How many acres of land were bought under cultivation in the Virgin Lands Scheme? How many tractors were provided?

• 6 million acres of land

• Over 120,000 tractors

What were the positives of Khrushchev’s agricultural schemes?

• The incomes of farmers doubled between 1952 and 1958 but still remained below industrial workers

• 1953-1958 food production increased by 51%

How did the Virgin Lands Scheme fail? What was the first sign of this?

In 1959 the target for grain production in Kazakhstan failed to be met. The land was dry and suitable only for grazing.

Successful cash crops such as cotton were replaced by food crops in ‘maize mania’ but without irrigation the plants died.

How did years of underinvestment impact agriculture?

Poor roads and inadequate storage facilities made agriculture more difficult.

What year was there a poor harvest?

1963

How did the shortage from the crop harvest of 1963 impact supplies of animal fodder?

Millions of livestock were slaughtered

What was the ultimate sign of failure in Khrushchev’s agricultural policies?

The USSR had to import grain from North America and Australia.