Khrushchev Calls For Urgent Farm Measures

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29765, 7 March 1962, Page 15

Khrushchev Calls For Urgent Farm Measures

(N 2. P-4.- Reuter—Copyright) MOSCOW, March 5. Mr Khrushchev today sharply criticised the state of Soviet agriculture and called for urgent measures to clear up its troubles—including a shortage of meat, according to Moscow Radio. ‘‘l° th*” Particular case it is not a matter of someone not having fulfilled the plan, or having organised distribution badly,” he said in a seven-hour speech to Communist leaders and agricultural experts in the hremhn.

“The fact is that we simply have not enough

meat," Mr Khrushchev said “The party and the Government are anxious over the situation and are taking steps for meat production to be increased within a short period."

The rate of agricultural development had fallen and supplies had become inadequate to the demands of a rising population. People must be made to take an interest in the better use of land and machinery. There must be material incentives to make the peasants produce more food. This was a Leninist principle and had nothing to do with the capitalist pursuit of profit. “We sharply criticise the present state of agriculture,” he said. "In the shortest possible time it must double or treble its output of the most important products. This is demanded by life itself, this is in the interests of building communism.” Party’s Task The party’s task was the creation of abundance, he said. Once the Soviet Union and its allies overtook the most advanced capitalist countries then nothing would stop the victorious march of Communist ideals.

What influenced the workers of capitalist countries was not simply revolu-

tionary appeals to class consciousness, but above all the example of a rapidly rising material standard of living for the masses in the Socialist countries. Mr Khrushchev said conceit and complacency had arisen among some agricultural leaders since the September plenary session of the central committee (agriculture) over the successes achieved.

Grass Farming Mr Khrushchev said: “Many errors have been made which greatly damaged agriculture.” Grass farming over decades had brought great losses and “huge efforts will be needed to get rid of the consequences. “It seemed to the advocates of grass farming that by giving more space to grass they would increase fodder production. In fact it was the reverse. The more grass was sown, the less fodder was produced.” Mr Khrushchev also said Stalin favoured grassland agriculture, having been converted to it by a ' Soviet scientist, Academician Vassili Robertovich Williams (of American parentage) on the grounds that it paid because it needed less investment.

(Today was the ninth anniversary of Stalin’s death.) Mr Khrushchev said: “The question arises, why did Stalin choose grassland farming, although this was contrary to the great experi-

ence accumulated in the West?

“This happened not only because he knew nothing about agriculture. He must have been under the spell of Academician Vassili Robertovitch Williams’s opinion that grassland farming required smaller capital investment in agriculture, that there was no need to build many factories producing mineral fertilisers.” Mr Khrushchev said that 16,000,000 tons less grain had been produced in 1961 than laid down in the seven-year plan, 3.000.000 tons less meat, and 17,000,000 tons less milk. Mr Khrushchev submitted on behalf of the Central Committee’s presidium a proposal to establish in every region a production administration for direct guidance of collective and state farms.

It was necessary to establish special committees of direct agriculture, both on the national scale - and also in the republics, territories and regions, he said.