Russia Again Faces Harvest Worry

Press, Volume C, Issue 29637, 6 October 1961, Page 13

Russia Again Faces Harvest Worry

(N.Z. Prtu Association—Copyright) MOSCOW, October 5. The First Secretary of the Kazakhstan Republic Communist Party (Mr D. Kunayev) has admitted that the grain harvest is falling behind its target for the third year running, the British United Press reported today.

His statement to the Kazakhstan Party Congress, reported in the "Kazakhstan Pravda.” reveals further troubles in the virgin lands area of the republic—Mr Khrushchev’s own pet scheme. However, this year’s harvest in expected to be better than the previous two /ears. Mr K'mayev said that bad weather, a fairly low level of agricultural knowledge and seriouii violations by officials were to blame for the poor harvest. In January, 1960,. Mr Khrushchev launched an allout bid to improve grain S reduction from Kazakhstan. Ir Nikolai Belyaev was replaced as First Secretary of the Party by Mr Kunayev, and numerous other officials were dismissed.

After the IMO harvest failure M. Khrushchev sternly criticised the officials.

He moved Mr Vladimir Matshevich. former Russian Minister of Agriculture, to Kazakhstan with the sole job of boosting farm production. Tffie "New York Times” said today that Communist China was again shopping for grain in the non-Communist world to ease the effect of another poor harvest Chinese Government representatives were said to have aproached Australian and Canadian authorities to obtain large shipments of wheat for 1963 and credits to finance them, reliable Washington sources reported. Peking contended that the “natural calamities" that it blamed for serious agricul* tual shortages in the last two years had again seriously reduced the summer yields. Official Chinese Communist publications said an autumn harvest only “slightly better" than last year's was expected.