Agrocultural technology of state farms of Siberia in the second half of 1940s - early 1950s

Abstract

The aim of the study is to identify peculiarities of agricultural technology development in the Siberian state farms in the second half of the 1940s - the first half of the 1950s. The article main tasks are the following: to determine the specifics of functioning this type agricultural enterprises in Siberia in the previous period and the state policy towards them; to analyze the seed production development and practices in using techniques for tillage and sowing; to study the agricultural engineering innovations effect on production and financial and economic indicators of the Siberian economy. The research is based on the documents of the State Archives of Novosibirsk Region, the Russian State Archive of Recent History, the Russian State Archive of Economics. In the latter, the documents of the Ministry of State Farms of the USSR were thoroughly analyzed. The paper represents data obtained from documentary and statistical publications. During the study the author came to the following conclusions: State farms (sovkhozs) created in the course of forced collectivization received the best equipment, personnel and relatively favorable conditions for work, but they did not become high-productive agricultural enterprises. After finishing the Great Patriotic War, which caused significant damage to State farms, crops farming of the agrarian state sector in Siberia was restored at a relatively fast pace. The production of grain dominated the crop industry. Positive shifts in high quality seed production were observed. The experience of growing branched wheat in Siberian state farms is very interesting in this respect. Mineral fertilizers and other agrochemical agents were used on a small scale. In general, these intensive methods did not become the factor of growing crop production. In this regard, attempts were made to use soil tillage and crop care technologies that did not require large financial costs. The main agrotechnical innovation of this kind was the grassland system of agriculture, which started to be applied everywhere. In Siberia, its large-scale application did not contribute to the growth of productivity in state farms due to admitting serious errors. The volumes of grain harvested from the fields depended as before on the size of sown areas, the favor of nature and the labor quality of farm workers, which remained at a rather low level. Agricultural engineering innovations did not become a real factor of the Soviet farming development. In the early 1950s stagnant trends were dominant the state sector of Siberian agriculture.