Grain Farming in Novosibirsk Region in the 1990s: Factors and Dynamics of Qualitative and Quantitative Changes

Abstract

The article analyzes the changes in the grain economy of the Novosibirsk region in the 1990s in order to identify the agrarian reform results of this period and to form an objective opinion on it. The study of regional aspects of development and operation of grain production, as the country’s most important agricultural sector, — is an effective way to form reliable ideas about the processes in agriculture production generated by radical market transformations of the 1990s. The author examines changes of the key indicators of the industry’s development (dynamics of sown areas and yield of grain crops, gross yield of grain), as well as factors promoting their growth and decrease. The most important task of the research is to identify changes in the quality parameters of the grown grain, agricultural machinery, equipment and facilities of farms and crop processing. The regional grain production is considered in chronological, industrial, organizational and production aspects. It was found out that in the 1990s the regressive tendencies dominated the grain industry of the Novosibirsk region. The farmers, who separated from collective and state farms, did not become the driving force for the agricultural sector of the economy. The personnel and technical base of agricultural enterprises that were the main grain producers decreased; the sown area of grain crops was reduced; the wheat share in them rose, but the grain quality characteristics deteriorated; the amount of protein in grain fell due to inadequate soil fertilization. In the late 1990s the demand for wheat started to fall, but for barley and rye — to grow. The problems with sale of wheat to the food industry enterprises forced its producers to acquire their own mills and bakeries. On the whole, in the 1990s the gross grain production noticeably decreased in relation to the level of the last Soviet five-year plan. The crop productivity remained at the same level.