Regards froids sur l'agriculture soviétique

Abstract

A Hard Look at Soviet Agriculture. The many studies of Soviet agriculture which have appeared in response to the curiosity aroused by its recent vicissitudes (the poor harvest of 1979 and the North American grain embargo) are based on questionable methods of evaluation which tend to produce a debatable view of the subject. Reference having been made to the main stages in the development of this sector, a certain number of received ideas relating to the model in operation are either improperly compared, or indeed called in question, on the basis of the available data, interpreted from the agronomist's point of view: hyperindustrialisation, gigantism, choice of the dry process for livestock feeding, etc. The results are then assessed, taking account of their development and returning them to their context, and in relation to results from other countries where natural conditions are comparable. These results show rapid progress, and have already reached a reasonable level, despite certain shortcomings which remain to be remedied. The speedy modernisation of Soviet agriculture arises as much from the need to improve the country's food supplies, as from the necessity of meeting present- day requirements in living and working conditions for the workers, and ultimately in coping with the serious constraints of the demographic perspectives. The entire agricultural sector at the moment is in a state of total change, in accordance with plans which are far from being fixed and monolithic. Its future prospects remain very open, and would appear to be particularly dependent on the provision which will be made for democratic forms of management. As regards methods, the development of this form of agriculture can only be judged in terms of its own internal consistency, and not on the basis of modes of evaluation devised for agricultural systems which are more familiar to us.