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Development irrigation and agriculture in the Ferghana valley
(as an example 50-70-s of the XX century)
Oybek KOMILOV
1
Andizhan State University named after Babur
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received September 2020
Received in revised form
15 October 2020
Accepted 15 November 2020
Available online
31 December 2020
In the article the state of irrigation-land-reclamation of
Ferghana valley in the condition of cotton monopoly in 1950-
1970 is closely observed. Besides, the measures on improvement
of agriculture and irrigation system by Soviet government and
their results are analyzed in the article on the grounds of primary
sources.
2181-
1415/© 2020 in Science
LLC.
This is an open access article under the Attribution 4.0 International
(CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ru)
Keywords:
Ferghana valley
Agriculture
Irrigation-land-reclamation
Cotton monopoly
Soviet government
Irrigation system
Collective farm
State farm
Drainage
Collector
Virgin lands
Фарғона водийсида ирригация ва қишлоқ
ҳужалиги
ривожланиши (ХХ асрнинг 50
-
70 йиллар мисолида)
АННОТАЦИЯ
Ключевые слова:
Фарғона водийси
Қишлоқ
хўжалиги
Суғориш
-
мелиорация
Пахта яккаҳокимлиги
Совет ҳукумати
Мазкур
мақолада
1950
-
1970
йилларда
Фарғона
водийсидаги пахта яккаҳокимлиги шароитида суғориш ва
мелиоратив эрларнинг ҳолати батафсил кўриб чиқилган.
Бундан ташқари, мақолада Совет ҳукуматининг қишлоқ
хўжалиги ва суғориш тизимини такомиллаштириш бўйича
1
Doctor of Sciences in
History, Professor at the department “Theory of civil society” of Andizhan State University
named after Babur, Andizhan, Uzbekistan
E-mail:
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Суғориш тизими
Колхоз
Совхоз
Дренаж
Коллектор
Бокира эрлари
чоралари
ҳамда
уларнинг
натижалари
дастлабки
манбаларга асосланган ҳолда таҳлил қилинган.
Развитие ирригации и сельского хозяйства в Ферганской
долине (на примере 50
-70-
х годов XX века)
АННОТАЦИЯ
Ключевые слова:
Ферганская долина
сельское хозяйство
Орошение
-
мелиорация
Хлопковая монополия
Советское правительство
Система орошения
Колхоз
Совхоз
Дренаж
Коллекционер
Целинные земли
В
статье
подробно
рассмотрено
состояние
ирригационно
-
мелиоративных земель Ферганской долины
в условиях хлопковой монополии в 1950
-
1970 гг. Кроме
того, в статье на основе первоисточников анализируются
меры Советского правительства по совершенствованию
сельского хозяйства и ирригационной системы, а также и
их
результаты.
INTRODUCTION
It is known that during the years of Soviet rule in Uzbekistan, as well as in the
agriculture of the Ferghana Valley, a policy of cotton monopoly was established, and
irrigation was completely subordinated to it. The implementation of cotton monopoly has
increased the dependence of the local population on grain, meat and milk on the supply of
essential foodstuffs. It was in the 50s and 70s of the twentieth century that the colonial
order was established in the Ferghana Valley. In particular, the Soviet government
emphasized the need to further accelerate cotton production, especially in the Ferghana
Valley, which has favorable natural conditions, climate and opportunities for cotton
growing. In particular, the adoption of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the
former USSR of Se
ptember 2, 1952 “On irrigation and development of lands in Andizhan,
Namangan and Fergana regions of the Uzbek SSR for further development of cotton” [9:14]
is a clear proof of our opinion. The resolution considered the development of 65,000
hectares of protected lands in Central Ferghana (including 15,000 hectares of neglected
lands in the irrigation network) in the next 4-5 years, from 1953. However, the adoption
of this historic decision, in turn, indicates that the Soviet government’s policy of cotton
monopoly in the valley has intensified. A number of guidelines and tasks were developed
by the governing bodies of the Soviet government for the rapid development of agriculture,
especially cotton growing. At the September 1953 Plenum of the Central Committee of the
CPSU, special emphasis was placed on the issue of short-term increases in cotton
production. At the same time, the Plenum set the following tasks: “It is necessary to
significantly increase the yield of cotton in collective and state farms and expand the area
under cotton by using unused lands, developing new irrigated lands, as well as improving
land reclamation” [7:436].
It should be noted that the main goal of the Soviets in this event was to provide the
center with more raw cotton. As a result of the development of new lands, the cotton sector
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has accelerated, but has caused a number of serious problems in the health of the
population. In 1953-1955 the number of developers in the collective farms of Namangan
region was 48, and the newly developed lands were located mainly in Damkul, Akkum,
Momokhan, Achchik Kul, Karakalpak, Mingbulak, Naiman and Boz massifs [8: 3]. Up to 8-
10 quintals of cotton were harvested from one hectare of developed land. In the first year
of the redeveloped lands in the
collective farm “Gigant” of Zadarya (Mingbulak) district
from 18 to 20 tons cotton was obtained up to [10: 3]. In 1953 the mobile collective farms
of Central Ferghana managed to get a good harvest of cotton. In particular, the collective
farm named after Kirov in Boz district up to 25.3 centners per hectare, the collective farm
“Leninchi” in Kholdevonbek district (now part of Shahrikhan district) up to 26.4 centners
per hectare, and the collective farm “Gigant” in Zadarya (Mingbulak) district up to 30.3
centners per hectare received a cotton crop up to tons [11:52].
The increase in productivity was due to the center’s policy of so
-called cotton
monopoly. Its outbreak has led to a complete reduction in other crop areas. As a result, the
needs of the population in other essential grain products were not met. In the same year,
the farms of Boz district transferred 10,900 tons to the state under the contract. In practice,
16 thousand tons of cotton are grown per hectare, which is 8689 tons cotton was delivered
and the plan was fulfilled by 80%. In the implementation of the state plan for the
production of cotton in the district, the collective farm “XVII Party Congress” has 863
hectares of cotton fields and 21.5 tons instead of 15.4 tons formed from. The state plan for
cotton production was fulfilled by 71.6%. Out of 13 kolkhozes in the district, 5 kolkhozes
have 15 tons to, 7 kolkhoz 15 tons 20 tons and only one kolkhoz 25 tons. It grew up to 30
thousand tons of cotton [14: 7]. The figures also show that the district’s agriculture was
dominated by the cotton industry, and t
hat the Soviet government’s command plan in this
area was gradually strengthened.
МЕТ
H
О
DS
The article uses the methods of comparative analysis and historical analysis of the
materials in chronological order. In particular, the resolution of the Council of Ministers of
the Union and the Central Committee of the CPSU of February 9, 1954 “On further
development of cotton growing in the USSR in 1954-
1958” expanded irrigation areas (600
thousand hectares, including 300 thousand hectares of cotton), significantly improved
land reclamation, the regulation of water use in collective farms and state farms was
considered [6:96]. This decision marked the beginning of a new phase of cotton monopoly
in the Ferghana Valley. In particular, in the tasks for the development of cotton growing in
the 6th five-year period (1956-1960) of Andizhan region in the perspective plan of
collective farms to achieve 235.9 thousand hectares of irrigated land (including 158.6
thousand hectares of cotton) and 482.1 percent of total cotton production thousand tons,
while increasing the total yield in the region from 30.4 hectares per hectare. In order to
fulfill this task, during the remaining 4 years of the 6th Five-Year Plan period, the
obligation to expand the area under cotton by 7.7 thousand hectares and increase the gross
raw material of cotton to 84.1 thousand tons [1:32]. These strict obligations were
strengthened from year to year by the local Soviet authorities.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
In 1957, collective farmers and machine operators of Toshloq district of Ferghana
region introduced the method of square-nest planting and double care of cotton in all cotton
fields. In particular, the district collective farms doubled the care of cotton on 9,000 hectares
of the total area of 12,000 hectares of cotton and were the first in the region to implement the
state plan for cotton production [2: 87]. The average yield in the district was 27 tons in 1956
instead of 28.3 tons formed. Despite the fact that the lands attached to the Gulistan collective
farm, which was established this year in Central Ferghana, are completely unsuitable for
agriculture and cost a lot of manpower, materials and money, there was no average cotton
harvest. In particular, the cotton harvest in 1958 was 11.70 tons, in 1959 11.91 tons 8.46
quintals in 1960 and 9.14 quintals in 1961, and the plan for cotton production was not fulfilled
for a single year [3: 6]. That is why the financial condition of the kolkhoz as of January 1, 1962,
amounted to 48,000 rubles of capital debt in the card index. On January 13, 1958, the Council
of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution “On the progress of irrigation and reclamation
work in Ferghana and Andizhan regions and throughout the country” [4:62]. According to the
Council of Ministers of the USSR, in 1958 the state of work on the preparation of the irrigation
system for vegetation (growth) irrigation, washing and reserve irrigation measures were not
fully implemented. Due to this, as of January 5, 1958, the cleaning of the irrigation network in
the country was completed by 58.5%. At the same time, 68.2% of the plan was implemented
by mechanisms and 44.3% by hand. In particular, manual cleaning of the irrigation system
was completed by 2.4% in Namangan, 3.3% in Andizhan and 7.1% in Ferghana. The main
reason for the failure of this work was the inability of the Soviet government to provide the
irrigation system with sufficient machinery and equipment. Founded in 1959 in the Ferghana
Valley, the “Communism” collective farm has a
chieved high yields of cotton and other
agricultural crops.
In particular, in 1961, the collective farm increased the area from 670 hectares to 25
hectares yielded from. At the same time, the Karl Marx collective farm of the Akhunboboev
Production Department, established in 1959, planted cotton on 720 hectares and in 1962
on 27.4 thousand hectares yielded from [12: 2]. In 1959-1961, the plan for the preparation
of new lands in the state farm “Gulbog” Turakurgan district by the 1
st
Construction and
Installation Department amounted to 2675 hectares, which in practice was fulfilled by
2407 hectares or 89%. During these years, the state farm “Gulbog” according to
the plan
was to prepare 597 hectares, but in practice it was prepared for 372 hectares or 62.3% [5:
77]. However, the production of cotton by the district collective farms during 1959-1961
decreased year by year. In 1959 the yield was 30 tons, in 1960 28.1 tons, in 1961 25.2 tons
formed. As of May 10, 1963, in Central Ferghana, 9706 hectares of new lands were
prepared, 7196 hectares were washed, and a total of 1991 seeds were sown. Of this, 463
hectares were planted with cotton, 1,117 hectares with maize and corn, and 411 hectares
with other agricultural crops, 857 people and 75 tractors worked on the collective and
state farms in these new lands [13:31]. The role of the kolkhoz mobile brigades in the
development of the Central Ferghana reserve was also sig
nificant. “From 1964 to 1971, the
mobile brigades of these kolkhozes acquired about 1,200 new plots of land on several plots
of land. For example, the first year after its development - in 1964 - 20 tons per hectare
from, in 1965 - 26.3 tons and in 1972 47
tons was obtained from ”[15:37].
The above examples also show that cotton production in the valley area has
increased significantly. Most of the cotton grown was transported to the center. It served
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to enrich the former Soviet Union’s harvest, not the ne
eds of the local population. The
development of Central Ferghana lands on the basis of the policy of cotton monopoly has
intensified in recent years. In particular, on November 15, 1973, a meeting of the Council
of Ministers of the USSR “On the implementat
ion of the resolution of the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan and the Council of Ministers of the USSR on
agricultural development, irrigation, establishment of new farms and complex
construction in Central Ferghana”. According to the
resolution of the Central Committee of
the Communist Party of Uzbekistan and the Council of Ministers of the USSR of November
1, 1971 “On measures to accelerate the irrigation and agricultural development of Central
Ferghana”, the construction of industri
al, residential and cultural facilities The
implementation of the task of establishing a forest reserve of the fields planned for 1972-
1973 was analyzed. At the same time, in 1972, with the help of the Uzgiprozem Institute of
the Ministry of Agriculture of the USSR, the general scheme of organization of the Central
Ferghana region was edited in cooperation with the Ministry of State Farms and the
Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water Resources. Ferganavodstroy, Andizhanvodstroy
and Namanganvodstroy trusts and regional irrigation departments in the Ferghana Valley
carried out excavation, concrete and reinforced concrete works in the amount of 1634039
m
3
for 19 years (1953-1972), of which 650526 m
3
in Ferghana, 8338 m
3
, Andizhan,
149692 m³ fell to the Namanga
n region. In the first quarter of this year, the council of the
Namanganvodstroy Trust set a task to add 460 hectares of new land in the first quarter of
this year. In particular, as of February 8 this year, 40 new irrigated lands were developed
on the second stage of the M-1 canal 4.9 km of pipes were laid. Construction and
installation work was completed in the first ten days of February at 16 thousand rubles, or
28%, instead of 57 thousand rubles. In particular, work on irrigated lands in the 184-
hectare Komsomol collective farm in Zadarya (Mingbulak) district, which is scheduled for
commissioning in February, has not been completed. The reason for such cases is the
frequent arrival of tasks of different content from the center, the urgency of their
implementation, the fact that one task is not yet completed, and another is assigned.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it should be noted that in the 50s and 70s of the XX century in the
valley agriculture dominated the policy of the Soviet cotton monopoly, where irrigation
was completely subordinated to this policy. To this end, many protected lands have been
developed and replaced by cotton fields. Based on this practice, the Soviet government
paid close attention to getting more cotton and further expanding the area under cotton.
As a result, cotton monopoly in the valley provinces intensified and the life of the peasants
became increasingly difficult.
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