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THE GENERAL STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE FERGANA REGION
IN THE YEARS AFTER THE WAR (1946-1953)
Yusupov Jurabek Hasanboevich
basic doctoral student of Fergana State University
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14416016
Аннотация.
Ушбу мақолада 1946-1953 йиллар даврий чегарасида
Ўзбекистон қишлоқ хўжалигининг умумий аҳволи масаласи Фарғона
вилояти мисолида ўрганилган. Фарғона вилояти қишлоқ хўжалигида янги
ерларнинг ўзлаштирилиши, янги очилган ерларда пахтачиликнинг кенг
йўлга қўйилиши, пахта яккаҳокимлигининг вилоят қишлоқ хўжалиги ва
аҳоли турмуш тарзига таъсири масаласи таҳлил этилган.
Калит сўзлар
: Ўзбекистон қишлоқ хўжалиги, Фарғона вилояти,
Марказий Фарғона чўли, пахтачилик, пахта яккаҳокимлиги, ирригация
қурилиши, деҳқончилик, ипакчилик, маиший ҳаёт.
Аннотация. В данной статье на примере Ферганской области исследован
вопрос общего состояния сельского хозяйства Узбекистана в период 1946-
1953 годов. Проанализированы вопросы освоения новых земель в
сельском хозяйстве Ферганской области, широкого внедрения
хлопководства на вновь освоенных землях, влияния монокультуры хлопка
на сельское хозяйство и образ жизни населения области.
Ключевые слова: сельское хозяйство Узбекистана, Ферганская область,
Центрально-Ферганская
пустыня,
хлопководство,
хлопковая
монокультура, ирригационное строительство, земледелие, шелководство,
бытовая жизнь.
Annotation.
In this article, the question of the general state of agriculture
in Uzbekistan in 1946-1953 was studied on the example of the Ferghana region.
The issues of developing new lands in the agriculture of the Ferghana region, the
widespread introduction of cotton cultivation on newly developed lands, the
influence of cotton monoculture on the agriculture and lifestyle of the region's
population were analyzed.
Keywords:
agriculture of Uzbekistan, Fergana region, Central Fergana
desert, cotton growing, cotton monoculture, irrigation construction, agriculture,
sericulture, household life.
During the Second World War, the economy of Uzbekistan suffered greatly; food
products, clothing, equipment, cars and tractors produced in the republic were
used only for the front. The situation in agriculture was especially difficult. Men,
the main workforce who had to work in the fields, had just returned from the
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front. Most of them returned disabled, and those who returned to their villages
healthy had forgotten a lot because of the war, and their work skills had greatly
declined.
During the war, the material and production base of collective and state farms
was completely destroyed. As a result of military losses, the number of
agricultural labor force was significantly reduced. At the beginning of 1946, the
working population of collective farms had decreased by 1/3 compared to 1940,
and workers constituted only 40% of the pre-war level [1. B.123]. For this
reason, the post-war restoration of agriculture began to take place in such
difficult conditions.
The Soviet people were faced with the task of restoring and improving such a
difficult economy. In August 1945, the government of the USSR developed the
4th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the National Economy for 1946-1950.
According to it, the country's national income was to increase by 38 percent, but
if we take into account the country's material losses during the war, this meant
reaching the pre-war level [2. B.7].
In the post-war years, the main criterion for the restoration of the republic's
agriculture remained the consistent expansion of cotton-sown areas and an
increase in the share of cotton in the total sown areas. In addition, in the five-
year plan for 1946-1950, Uzbekistan was given the main place as the main
guarantee of the independence of the Cotton Union. Soon after the end of the
war, in February 1946, the central political leadership adopted a special decision
defining plans and measures for the restoration and further development of
cotton growing in Uzbekistan in 1946-1953. Local authorities were instructed
to take measures to reduce the sowing of grain crops on irrigated lands and
move these crops to other lands, freeing up 218 thousand hectares of irrigated
land for seeds and alfalfa [3. B.506].
On June 14, 1945, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party
(Bolsheviks) and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR issued a
resolution "On measures to restore and further develop cotton production in
Uzbekistan" [4. B.862-866]. According to this decision, the total area of cotton
crops in the republic in 1940 was 920 thousand hectares, and by the end of 1950
it should be increased to 955 thousand hectares. In 1947, it was planned to
completely restore the pre-war level of cotton production. Rural workers of
Uzbekistan had to increase the cotton yield annually by developing new lands.
According to the five-year plan, by 1950, the cotton harvest in the republic
should reach 2 million 139 thousand tons. This figure should be 2.5 times more
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than in 1945. It was also planned to increase the yield of 1 million hectares of
cotton fields to 25 c/ha by 1953 [5. B.465].
Serious attention was paid to the development of other branches of agriculture,
especially cattle breeding. The rapid development of new lands for sowing
alfalfa and other forage crops made it possible to create a solid forage base for
increasing the hooves of livestock. In the five-year plan, much attention was paid
to cocooning - one of the main branches of agriculture in the republic. In 1946-
1950, the task was set to breed new varieties of mulberry and new varieties of
worm seeds, improve the care of silkworms and improve the quality of worm
seeds. By the end of the five-year plan, it was decided to increase the amount of
worm seeds distributed for sericulture to 285 thousand boxes, and the gross
output of cocoons to 14,840 tons, and also to increase the output of cocoons
obtained from feeding each box of silkworms. worm seeds up to 52 kilograms
[6. B.135].
The five-year plan defined specific tasks and main directions for the
development of each region of Uzbekistan. For example, the Fergana Valley
should be developed as the main center for the production of cotton, cocoons
and gas, as well as an oil-producing region. It was also planned to restore and
expand the area of gardens and vineyards in the Fergana region, improve their
maintenance, increase the yield of gardens and vineyards and field crops [7.
B.23-24].
In the post-war years, Uzbekistan had uncultivated wastelands. According to the
government decision in 1947, in the Tashkent region 46.9 thousand hectares, in
Fergana 20.3 thousand hectares, in Namangan 15.3 thousand hectares, in
Andijan 33 thousand hectares, in Samarkand 21.7 thousand hectares, in Bukhara
23.2 thousand hectares, in Kashkadarya 21 thousand hectares, 10.4 thousand
hectares in the Surkhandarya region, 30 thousand hectares in Khorezm and
Karakalpakstan. It was necessary to ensure the sowing of agricultural crops on
38.9 thousand hectares of fallow and neglected lands [8. B.178].
In the first post-war years, large-scale programs were adopted to train highly
qualified specialists and provide agricultural enterprises with specialists.
Particular attention was paid to increasing the number of machine operators,
technical personnel and skilled workers in various branches of agriculture.
However, the personnel was mainly staffed by women and teenagers who did
not have the necessary professional skills. It should be noted that in the first
post-war years, there were serious problems in the practice of teaching the
profession of a machine operator. In particular, there were too few qualified
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teachers, the necessary teaching aids and equipment were missing, and those
that existed were insufficient. In 1946, agricultural production in the USSR
barely reached half of the pre-war level. As a result of maintaining the rationing
system for food distribution in the country, the majority of the population will
be forced to work in a semi-starved state. The situation was aggravated by the
drought and crop failure of 1946-1947. However, despite this, 10% of the grain
harvested in the country was exported to Eastern European countries [9. B.38].
Since 1946, the amount of grain and other food and industrial goods imported to
Uzbekistan from the Center depended on the amount of imported cotton. In
1946, the republic received a high cotton harvest. The state received 1 million
428 thousand tons of raw cotton, the state plan was fulfilled by 100.7%, the yield
was 13.6 c/ha [10. B.222]. By 1947, the area under cotton reached the pre-war
level. In 1947, 1948 and 1949, the state plan for cotton cultivation was not
fulfilled. The main reason for this was the shortage of labor in agriculture, as
well as the very low material and technical base of cotton growing. Thanks to the
measures taken and practical assistance, in 1950, 2 million 282 thousand tons of
cotton were grown in Uzbekistan, and the state plan was fulfilled by 104%. The
post-war state plan for cotton cultivation for 1946–1955 was implemented only
in 1946 and 1950. In 1951–1955, Uzbekistan supplied the country with 12
million 714 thousand tons of cotton. This figure was 4 million 779 thousand
tons, or 62.2% more than in 1946–1951 [11. B.41]. The increase in cotton
cultivation occurred mainly due to the conversion of new additional lands into
cotton fields. On April 16, 1949, the government of the republic adopted a
resolution “On further measures for the development of Mirzachol,” and the bulk
of the newly developed lands in this area were allocated for sowing cotton [12.
B.286]. Although increased attention was paid to the development of water
management in those years, it was directed only at irrigating collective farm
lands.
Water was used mainly for cotton fields, while grain, vegetables, rice, gardens
and other crops remained secondary. Due to the lack of water, household plots
of villagers in many regions were not irrigated. The imperial policy based on the
monopolization of cotton and economic coercion had a serious negative impact
on the state of agriculture. For example, in the early 1950s, the total sown area
had not yet reached the pre-war level. In the early 1950s, the gross harvest of
grain crops decreased from 615.1 thousand tons in 1940 to 443 thousand tons,
vegetables - from 1315.2 thousand tons to 840.2 thousand tons, sugar cane yield
- from 331.9 thousand tons to 153.4 thousand tons. At the same time, the yield
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of vegetable crops decreased from 125 to 73 centners per hectare, and rice from
84 to 66 centners [13. B.111].
In the context of economic difficulties, the state increased repressive measures
against citizens. The decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
of June 4, 1947, "On criminal liability for theft of state and public property" and
"On strengthening the protection of private property of citizens" exceeded the
law of August 7, 1932 (the "Law of the Five Thorns") in their cruelty. In the
second half of 1946, two decisions were made to strengthen grain protection:
June 27 - "On measures to ensure grain protection, prevent embezzlement,
robbery and theft" and October 25 "On ensuring the safety of state grain". The
decrees provided for extremely harsh measures - the replacement of the death
penalty or the death penalty with 10 years of imprisonment [14. B.12]. In the
spring of 1947, the cessation of grain supplies to the domestic market and a
sharp increase in grain prices led to an outbreak of food theft in the country.
Punishments for petty theft were sharply tightened, with 7-10 years of
imprisonment introduced. However, previously such a crime was punishable by
1 year of imprisonment. People stole in order to survive. Because many
collective farmers did not receive a single gram of grain for their workdays [15.
B.94].
It was possible to prevent the famine that occurred in the Soviet state, to save
the population from hunger and deprivation. For this, the state had sufficient
reserves of grain, oil, sugar and other products. However, the existing reserves
were not touched. The famine in the Soviet country in 1946 was caused not only
by a natural disaster - drought, but also by the cruel and inhumane policies of
the party and the Soviet government. Aid to the starving was insufficient, and if
it was provided, it was symbolic.
Reducing existing food reserves or grain exports could have prevented the
famine. But this was not done. In 1946, grain exports to the Soviet country
amounted to 0.4 million tons, and in 1947, when thousands of people were dying
of hunger, grain exports increased 6 times to 6.4 million tons [14. B.13]. The
famine in the Soviet country ended only at the end of 1947.
Large capital was needed to develop agriculture. However, they did not devote
themselves sufficiently to agriculture. In the post-war period, only 7 percent of
all funds were directed to the needs of agricultural production in Uzbekistan.
State "aid" to collective farms consisted mainly of deliveries of equipment at the
disposal of MTS. At the same time, purchase prices for collective farm products
remained the same as before the war, and prices for industrial products
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supplied to peasant farms increased 20 times. As a result, the state received
agricultural products practically for free [3. B.533-534]. In the post-war years,
collective farms had to import 40-60 kg of meat, 120-280 liters of milk, and 30-
150 eggs per year, depending on the soil and climate zone. Only since 1953 were
the annual norms of mandatory delivery to the state somewhat reduced, and
since 1958 the food obligation paid to the state was completely abolished [16.
B.6].
The shortage of labor resources also affected gross agricultural production.
According to statistics, in 1951 the grain harvest in the country as a whole was
82% of the 1940 figure, sunflower 65%, potatoes 77%, and vegetable crops 69%
[17. B.158]. In this situation, the Soviet government took such measures as
increasing taxes on agricultural activity, reducing subsidies provided to it, and
abolishing benefits in order to replenish financial resources. For example, in
1952, agricultural taxes increased by 1.5–2 times compared to the previous year,
and the benefits established for teachers, doctors, and agricultural specialists in
land use were completely abolished [17. B.156].
Such unconventional measures did not lead to a sharp increase in agricultural
production, but, on the contrary, worsened the difficult situation in the industry.
The need for fundamental reforms in agriculture became more obvious.
Reorganizational measures in this area required changes in a number of systems
adopted in previous years as a result of the collectivization of agriculture. In the
process of collectivization of agriculture, a centralized management system was
created in order to establish production in the village with the help of
technology, as well as to increase the efficiency of the agricultural sector. As a
result, small production and private subsidiary farms within collective farms
were sharply reduced.
The measures taken by the Soviet government to restore agriculture in the post-
war years were based mainly on the consolidation of small collective farms, the
consolidation of farms, or the transformation of collective farms into state farms
(sovkhozes). If in 1940 there were 235.5 thousand collective farms in the USSR,
then by 1950 they had decreased to 121.4 thousand, in 1960 - to 44 thousand,
and in 1971 - to 32.3 thousand [18. B.475]. In practice, rich and prosperous
collective farms were merged with poor, helpless collective farms. The goal of
consolidating collective farms was aimed primarily at improving the financial
situation of rural producers, expanding arable land, strengthening the material
and technical base of farms, and increasing the number of livestock in collective
ownership [19. B.152]. By August 1950, instead of the previous 1,770 small
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collective farms, 752 large collective farms were created in the Uzbek SSR.
Before the unification of collective farms, each collective farm had an average of
104 farms, and after the unification, each collective farm had 231 farms. The
average land area of each collective farm increased from 362 hectares to 980
hectares. As a result of the unification of collective farms, 6,582 people were laid
off from the administrative and managerial staff, which made it possible to save
590,000 working days per month, including 108,000 working days in the
Fergana region [20. B.187]. The consolidation of small collective farms led to the
creation of large multinational farms in Uzbekistan. This result, on the one hand,
was aimed at implementing the Soviet national policy of mutual integration of a
multi-ethnic and diverse cultural society (representatives of the migrant
population and the local population), and on the other hand, specialization was
achieved in production activities among various ethnic groups.
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