Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2014 number

Based on the materials of Western Siberia the article analyzes the reasons, progress and results of the campaign on limiting the domestic food consumption in collective and state farms in the middle of 1970s - early 1980s. The growthrate slowdown in the 1970s along with the crisis in the rural sector at the beginning of 1980s caused food shortage. Under such conditions farm units sold more foods to their workers and increased wages in kind, that led to a considerable exceedance of fixed limits. According to the then existing state procurement policy the planning agencies fixed the amount of food supplies that could be used for the internal needs. When these rules were violated the party and economic bodies had to severe the administrative measures aimed at limitation on the domestic consumption and preservation of the amount of state purchases in order to maintain the necessary food balance. The author draws a conclusion that this campaign was an illustrative example how the Soviet administrative-command system acted in regard to agriculture. This campaign was carried out through administrative pressure on the farm directors by making them responsible before the Communist Party for their financial activities. It allowed only limited amount of agricultural products to be released for intrafarm needs and catering and foresaw inspections on the part of control organizations. Instead of stimulating the crop and livestock production the activity of the party and economic bodies was directed to organization of regulatory compliance control over the actual production and expenditures in the state and collective farms.