How did Khrushchev and Brezhnev affect agriculture?

Question 1

What obstacles did Khrushchev see to achieve agricultural growth

Answer 1

• High tax on farmers
• Num of livestock falls to pre revolutionary numbers

Question 2

What incentive did Khrushchev give to farmers?

Answer 2

• Paid farmers higher prices for their produce, incentivising production and boosting farm income by 250% between 1952 - 1956

Question 3

What and why did Khrushchev create the Virgin Lands Scheme
(in 7 year plan)

Answer 3

• To increase the amount of land being farmed
• Created new farms in the northern caucasus, and Western Siberia
  Was a failure = after adverse weather conditions that led too many areas failing to meet production targets. Forced to source grain to import from west

Question 4

What did Khrushchev invest in?
(In 7 year plan)

Answer 4

Artificial fertilisers = Boost production by 40%
Tractors = Boost production by 30%
Investment in agriculture grew from 3% of Soviet Budget to 12.8% 1954 -1959

Question 5

What were Khrushchevs agricultural successes?

Answer 5

Initially highly successful, agricultural production increased by 35.3% 1954 - 1958.
Khrushchev set a hugely ambitious target of overtaking US farm production by 1960

Question 6

How was inefficiency a problem?

Answer 6

• Virgin Lands Scheme required complex systems, made cost of production high
• Agriculture was extremely labour intensive, 50% of Soviet population worked in agriculture, 5% in US. US agriculture still produced 2x the amount of food prod by Soviet agri

Question 7

What were some on-going problems Khrushchev had

Answer 7

• Central planning meant farmers did not always use the correct fertiliser at the right time so often went to waste
• Repeatedly reformed the ministries dealing with agriculture
• Soviet farms had inadequate storage facilities, food was wasted
• Pay for agri workers increased but remained inadequate

Question 8

What happened to reform after Khrushchev?

Answer 8

The failure and instability that Khrushchevs reforms created led to leading communists to reverse his reforms after 1964

Question 9

What did Brezhnev do to sort out agriculture

Answer 9

• Brezhnev was content to manage the system Stalin had set up
• Brezhnev abandoned attempts to make agriculture more productive
• Only authorised large scale grain imports from west to keep food prices low

Question 10

How did Brezhnev import from the west?

Answer 10

• By selling oil
• Oil prices were high during 1970’s