XIX Congress of the CPSU (b) - (October 5-14, 1952). Documents and Materials

8 October, (Evening meeting)

Presiding A.. Niyazov.

The meeting continued to discuss the report of Comrade. M.Z. Saburov.

At the end of the meeting, the congress was greeted by representatives of foreign communist and workersʹ parties.

I.A. Benediktov, (Moscow)

Comrades! In the war and post‐war years, collective farms have once again demonstrated their great strength and vitality, the advantages of the socialist economic system.

Thanks to the care of the Party, the Government, and Comrade Stalin personally, agriculture, despite the enormous damage caused by the war, in a short time was not only restored, but also exceeded the prewar level of production.

In the report of Comrade Malenkov, the results of the post‐war development of the USSR are elucidated with exhaustive clarity and completeness and the tasks for the next period are set.

During the years of the postwar five‐year plan, the material and technical base of agriculture has increased, and the social economy of the collective farms has grown and become even stronger.

In recent years, there have been significant changes in the placement of crops. Wheat production is moving more and more to new areas every year. Along with a large increase in the sown areas of wheat in the main regions of its production, the proportion of wheat sown in the republics of the Caucasus, the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian republics, as well as in many regions of the non‐chernozem zone, has significantly increased. The area under wheat on the collective farms of this strip in 1952 exceeded the pre‐war level; in the regions of the South‐East, the Urals and Kazakhstan, the sowing of the most valuable varieties of durum wheat has been expanded.

The high level of mechanization of agricultural work on collective farms and the increased culture of agriculture made it possible to bring wheat production to a size that was not previously known in our country. The USSR firmly secured its first place in the world in the production of this most valuable food crop, leaving behind such large wheat producers as the United States of America, Argentina and Canada.

On the basis of strengthening the social economy, the incomes of collective farms and collective farmers increased. Collective farmsʹ cash incomes increased in 1951 by 86.7 percent in comparison with 1940. The indivisible funds of collective farms at the beginning of this year have more than doubled in comparison with 1940.

The collective farms were greatly helped by machine and tractor stations. In the post‐war years, more than 160 new types and brands of agricultural machines entered agriculture, which made it possible to mechanize a large number of works that were previously performed manually. Machine‐tractor stations are now performing 170 types of work on collective farms, compared to 90 in 1940. The use of the tractor fleet has improved. The total volume of tractor work on collective farms this year exceeds the pre‐war level by 88 percent.

Along with the successes, there are serious shortcomings in the work of the collective farms and machine and tractor stations. Comrade Malenkov in his report noted the presence of serious mistakes and shortcomings in the management of agriculture by agricultural authorities. Some of the congress delegates in their speeches made critical comments on the work of the Ministry of Agriculture and its bodies. This criticism is correct. The Ministry of Agriculture and its bodies make mistakes, do not work efficiently enough, do not show the due exactingness and often tolerate shortcomings. The Ministry will take measures to eliminate these shortcomings.

The draft directives for the fifth five‐year plan contain an ambitious program for the further development of socialist agriculture. It is planned to increase grain production on a large scale. The gross grain harvest in 1955 will be increased to more than two times the harvest in tsarist Russia in its best years. Much attention is paid to increasing the production of wheat and other crops. This increase in the new five‐year plan must be ensured mainly through a further increase in yields. The advanced collective farms, machine and tractor stations and entire districts are already receiving higher yields than envisaged by the draft directives under the five‐year plan. Collective farms of the Bashtansky district, Nikolaev region, this year, over the entire sowing area of grain crops of 38 thousand hectares, have grown 27.5 centners per hectare, and the collective farms of the Snigirevsky district of the same region have received a harvest of 34 centners of winter wheat per hectare.

These examples indicate the potential for further significant increases in crop yields. A further increase in mechanization, a rise in the culture of agriculture and the implementation of a complex of agrotechnical measures in each region and collective farm, taking into account their specific features, will be of decisive importance for raising yields.

The rapid introduction of more productive varieties plays a large role in increasing yields. In the post‐war period alone, 290 new, highyielding varieties, including 57 varieties of wheat, 24 varieties of oilseeds, have been introduced and transferred to production in our country.

In the successful solution of the problems of increasing the production of vegetable oil, it is of paramount importance to replace old varieties of sunflower with new, higher oil‐bearing and hybrid varieties with an oil yield from seeds of at least 30 ‐ 35 percent. The implementation of this measure alone will increase the production of sunflower oil in the country by more than 100 thousand tons. In order to accelerate the replacement of old sunflower varieties with new, high‐oil varieties, it would be advisable to accept and pay for sunflower seeds taking into account the oil content in them.

Along with a significant increase in the production of all types of agricultural products, improving their quality is of paramount importance. We have every opportunity to further improve the baking qualities of wheat and rye, increase the oil content in oilseeds, sugar content of beets, increase the number of flax fiber and cotton grade.

The growth of the material well‐being of our people requires both a significant increase in production and an improvement in the quality of food products: meat, milk, butter, eggs, as well as livestock raw materials, especially fine wool.

For a further rise in the productivity of animal husbandry, it is necessary, first of all, to improve the feeding and maintenance of animals by introducing a more intensive system of dairy farming ‐ a stall system for keeping livestock, taking into account the characteristics of the regions. In order to successfully and orderly implement this system, it is necessary to ensure the sowing of various forage crops to obtain green forage. The experience of leading collective farms and districts shows that with abundant feeding of dairy cattle with coarse, succulent and green fodder, the annual milk yield of cows can be doubled within two to three years at a low cost of concentrated fodder.

In order to significantly increase wool production and improve its quality, it is necessary to develop fine‐wool and semi‐fine‐wool sheep breeding. The widespread use of cross‐breeding pigs on commercial pig farms, and the expansion of highly nutritious forage crops will increase the production of meat and lard in a shorter time.

Much work remains to be done on the qualitative improvement of livestock on collective farms, on the rapid reproduction of the best breeds of farm animals. In our country in recent years, 26 new highly productive breeds of farm animals have been created, including such wonderful ones as the Kostroma and Lebedinskaya cattle breeds, Breitovskaya and Livenskaya pig breeds, Stavropol and Altai sheep breeds.

During the postwar five‐year plan, fodder production lagged behind the growth in livestock, which had a strong impact on the productivity of animal husbandry, as well as on the preservation of livestock. The draft directives for the fifth five‐year plan envisage a huge increase in feed production, which will improve animal feeding and significantly increase their productivity.

The most important condition in the system of measures to expand and strengthen the fodder base is a significant expansion of crops and an increase in the yield of grasses, root crops, silage crops, a sharp increase in the productivity of meadows and pastures, plowing and artificial tinning of unproductive forage lands.

Natural hayfields and pastures in many areas are the main source of hay and green fodder. Therefore, increasing the productivity of pastures and their correct use is of great importance. Even such a simple measure, available to all collective farms, such as alternating pasture plots when grazing livestock, can significantly increase the productivity of animal husbandry. On the collective farm ʺKrasnaya Gorkaʺ, Bezhetsk district, Kalinin region, after the introduction of alternation in the use of pastures, milk yield over the summer increased by 500 ‐ 600 kg per cow.

Of particular importance is the feeding of meadows with local and mineral fertilizers, which increases the productivity of meadows by 2 ‐ 3 times. Increasing the production of succulent feed is a necessary condition for increasing the milk production of cows. Juicy feed is the cheapest for mass fattening of pigs. Along with the increase in fodder ensiling, the production and use of root crops and potatoes for livestock feed should be significantly expanded. On the farm ʺ12th Octoberʺ, Kostroma region, Kostroma region, where milk yield exceeds 5,200 kg of milk on average per cow, feeding with potatoes is widely used in combination with other feed.

The expansion of cultivated areas and an increase in potato yields were constrained by the insufficient level of mechanization of potato cultivation. Now machines have been designed with the help of which it is possible to mechanize the planting, care and harvesting of potatoes. Comprehensive mechanization of potato cultivation using these machines will reduce labor costs by several times. On the collective farm ʺForward to Communismʺ, Ramensky District, Moscow Region, labor costs per hectare for square‐nested machine planting of potatoes, cultivating with a tractor cultivator and harvesting with a potato harvester were reduced by 6 times.

It is extremely important that the industry quickly mastered the mass production of machines for the comprehensive mechanization of potato cultivation and eliminated design flaws in them, which would make it possible to significantly increase potato production in a short time.

The wide and correct use of fertilizers is of great importance for increasing yields. Despite the fact that the production of mineral fertilizers will almost double in the new five‐year plan, the growing needs of the collective farms for fertilizers are not fully satisfied. Therefore, it is especially important to introduce new, more rational methods of using mineral fertilizers, such methods that make it possible to reduce the dose of fertilizers with a significant increase in yield. This will make it possible to dramatically expand the fertilized areas.

Agricultural engineering enterprises need to improve the designs and organize the mass production of manure loaders, manure spreaders, machines for harvesting, loading and correctly applying manure, peat, lime, compost and mineral fertilizers into the soil as soon as possible.

The Ministry of Chemical Industry, along with an increase in the production of fertilizers, should produce significantly more advanced chemicals to combat pests and diseases of agricultural plants. It is especially important to expand the production of proven weed control chemicals, the use of which will reduce labor costs on collective farms for weeding. It is important to make wider use of aviation for the use of chemical pests and diseases of agricultural plants and weeds.

The assignment of a five‐year plan to complete the mechanization of basic field work on collective farms and to expand the activities of the MTS in the mechanization of labor‐intensive work in all branches of collective farm production further enhances the role of the MTS in the development of agriculture. The responsibility of the MTS for fulfilling the plans for crop yields and livestock productivity is growing. The fulfillment of this task requires a significant improvement in the organizational management of the production activities of the MTS, their strengthening with highly qualified personnel, the improvement of the operation of the machine and tractor fleet, and the widespread introduction of advanced agricultural techniques. The honorable task of designers, scientists and collectives of agricultural engineering plants is to quickly create designs and organize mass production of new machines necessary to complete the comprehensive mechanization of agricultural work, especially for fodder, industrial crops and vegetables. With a high level of mechanization of basic work in field cultivation, some processes of cultivation of individual crops and laborintensive work in animal husbandry are still not mechanized. This leads to high labor costs. Thus, in grain farming, work on collecting and stacking straw, cleaning, drying and loading grain is poorly mechanized. A lot of work is expended on performing these works. To complete the comprehensive mechanization of work in grain farming, the industry must produce more stackers, hopper carriers, highperformance grain cleaning machines, as well as stationary and mobile dryers. Mechanization of work on currents allows to reduce labor costs for grain processing by 7 ‐ 9 times.

A serious drawback in the field of agricultural engineering is the slow design and development of the production of mounted machines and implements. For the manufacture of mounted agricultural machines and implements, metal is required 20 ‐ 30 percent less than for the manufacture of trailed ones, in addition, mounted implements allow you to work without a trailer.

It is necessary to pay special attention to the quality of tractors and agricultural machines produced by the industry. The ministries supplying agriculture with tractors, various machines and spare parts do not care enough to improve their quality. Some agricultural and tractor engineering plants often produce tractors and other machines with significant defects, as a result of which the machines fail prematurely.

Comrades! Delegates to the Congress Vol. Puzanov, Grishin and Kiselev in their speeches correctly noted the shortcomings in the work of the Ministry of Agriculture in the management of irrigation. The ministry will take additional measures to strengthen water management organizations and involve research institutions in the development of irrigated agriculture issues.

In the current five‐year period, agriculture needs to fulfill an enormous program of work on irrigation construction. The volume of capital investments in irrigation construction will increase by about 4 times in the fifth five‐year period. The large volume and complexity of construction irrigation works require the creation of powerful design construction organizations, daily attention to irrigation construction, mechanization and material and technical supply of construction. The scattering of construction organizations and skilled workers between the three agricultural ministries weakens the management of large irrigation projects. It would be advisable to discuss the issue of organizing an independent Ministry of Irrigation Construction. The ministries of agriculture, cotton growing, and state farms should have retained the design and operation of irrigation systems, work on the development of newly irrigated and watered lands. This would significantly improve the business of irrigation construction and the development of irrigated lands.

In connection with the expansion of the range of work and the increasing role of the MTS in collective farm production, it would be advisable to resolve the issue of transferring some of the functions of regional departments of agriculture to machine and tractor stations, transferring to them also a significant part of specialists from these departments. This will bring specialists closer to production, strengthen machine and tractor stations, and improve the maintenance of collective farms.

It is necessary to expand the training of machine operators and improve the quality of their training; to gradually pass to the training of agricultural machine operators of a wide profile who can work on tractors, combines and other agricultural machines. The school system of the Ministry of Labor Reserves should be involved in the training of machine operators for agriculture.

Comrades! The fifth five‐year plan outlines an ambitious program for the further development of agriculture. The workers of the collective farm village, agricultural specialists, the workers of the MTS will do everything to fulfill the tasks of the Party, the Government, the great Stalin with honor. (Applause.)