SOVIET HARVESTING OF SUGAR BEETS, ROOT FODDERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360132-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 132
• Publication Date: November 20, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/07/22 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360132-5
1
.The 1949 sugar beet crop was unusually large. The main sugar beet areas
produced more than had been grown in either the prewar or postwar years. At
present, the most pressing goals are the elimination of wastage during sugar
beet harvesting and the speeding up of crop shipments to sugar beet factories
and processing points. Therefore it is important to complete the harvesting
in the shortest possible time.
A more serious error is delay in sugar beet harvestinge In years of
rainy autumns and early snowfalls, sugar beets may be frozen if the state plan
for harvesting is followed. For this reason, each kolkhoz should draw up its
own harvesting plan, tak'.ag into account the utilization of all manpower and
tractive force and the loading of sugar beet elevators, tractors, and horses.
The exact size of the harvest on kolkhoz plantations must be computed ahead of
time.
SOVIET HARVESTING OF SUGAR BEETS, ROOT FODDERS
SUBJECT Economic - Agriculture, sugar beets
HOW
PUBLISHED Monthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Moscow
DATE
PUBLISHED Sep 1949
LANGUAGE
According to plans approved by the Soviet of 1inisters USSR and the TsK
VKP(b), sugar beet pulling must be completed by the following dates: in the'
Ukrainian SSR on 25 October.; in oblasts of the central chernozem zone of the
RSFSR, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Belorussia on 20 October; in Siberian
oblasts on 10 October; in the Caucasus on 10 November. All other areas are to
complete sugar beet pulling by 20 October.
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL UR"t' I IAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPOR'
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1949
DATE DIST. rO Nov 1950
NO. OF PAGES 3
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
Kolkhoznoye Proizvodstvo, No 9, 1949.
STATE IX NAVY X NSRB
ARMY X AIR x ! B I
- 1. -
CONFIDENTIAL CO"F~DE~~~A
ID
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/07/22 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360132-5
. Several errors are committee in harvesting sugar beets. Some kolkhozes
begin harvesting work too early in the season. Crops in the main sugar beet
?areas can grow considerably during the first half of September. During a clear
summer day, the sugar content of sugar beets increases by one-tenth of one per-
cent or more, while during the first 10?,days of September, the sugar content
can increase by 11 percent or more. The weight of roots increases by as much
as 8-10 grains in 24 hours, Furthermore, if sugar beets are dug out too soon,
they wilt very quickly and cannot easily be stored. Consequently, large losses
are inevitable,
THIS DOCOMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN TNT MEANING OF ESPIONAGE ACT SO
U. S. C.. 3t AND SE. AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR THE BEVILATION
OF ITS CONTENTS IN ANT MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PRO-
HIBITIO BY LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/07/22 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360132-5
CONFIDENTIAL
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/07/22: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360132-5
CONFIDENTIAL
In the main sugar beet areas of European USSR, kolkhozes are allotted
20-25 days in October for harvesting. Past experiences shows that out of
20-25 working days in October 12-15 days are suitable for sugar beet pulling
as a result of unfavorable climatic conditions. Thus, some of the harvesting
work which cannot wait until October must be done in September.
In drawing up a harvesting plan, each kolkhoz worker using a sugar beet
harvester 13 held responsible for cleaning and storing 10-15 centners of sugar
beets each working day; if the work is done by hand, 8 centners. Consequently,
the harvesting period for 250 centners, allowing 0.8 hectare per kolkhoz member,
would be about 20 days if the work were done by harvesters and 25 days if done
by hand. This means that in a given case (a 250-centner harvest, for example)
machine harvesting in the RSFSR can begin on about 15 September, and hand har-
vesting on 10 September; in the Ukraine on 20 and 15 September, respectively.
About half the sugar beets should be pulled during the September harvesting.
As soon as sugar beets are dug, the roots should be cut off and cleaned
with as little damege to them as is possible. Damaged roots are hard to store,
lose much sugar, and contact fungus disease more readily. The harvester is an
invaluable aid for this work, since it digs out whole. roots and lessens the
number of sugar beets lost in the ground. Hand pulling often can result in as
much as 3-5 percent loss of the total harvest.
There are several methods for cleaning sugar beet roots. The best one
is the Yarmoshenko method which cuts out only the cen'..ral bud and leaves the.
stalks and lateral buds. Cleaning by this method results in only a very small
loss of sugar-carrying tissue and decreases the possibilities of harming roots.
Research has shown that the preservation of-buds prevents roots from becoming
infected with fungus diseases and lowers losses of sugar beets during storage.
To be stored successfully, sugar beets must be kept from wilting and must
be promptly transported to sugar-processing points. The following dates have
been set for removing sugar beets from plantations: in Siberia, Lithuania, Latvia,
Estonia, and Belorussia by 1 November; in Ukrainian SSR by 5 November; in Molda-
vian SSR, the Caucasus, Tambov and Penza oblasts by 1 December; in Kursk and
Voronezh oblasts and the Central Asiatic republics by 15 December.
The shortest period for pulling and transporting sugar-beets is 11 days
for the Ukrainian SSR. In the RSFSR, it is considerably longer; 40 days fL.
Tambov and Penza oblasts and 56 days for Kursk and Voronezh oblasts. Ir Kras-
nodar Kray, it is 20 days (from 10 November to 1 December),- and in Central Asia
one month (from 15 November. to 15 December).
The problem of storing sugar beets, which cannot immediately be removed
from plantations, must also be considered. Many kolkhoz directors do not con-
sider this, since they think that all the sugar beets can be removed at once.
However, if sugar beets are piled up and covered with sugar beet leaves for
even a short time, the roots wilt. If they remain in piles for a long period
of time, the result can be a large loss in both the sugar beet harvest apd in
the amount of sugar obtained. The leaves covering the beets dry quickly and are
easily carried away by the wind, leaving the roots uncovered.
For temporary storage of sugar beets in fields, the roots mint be cleaned
and placed in piles, then covered immediately with '_iaves; if the beets are left
for as long as 3 days, they should be covered with dirt. Sugar beets which are
to remain in the field longer should be placed in round containers, 2.5 meters
wide and 1.5 meters deep.
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U FMFNTIAL
Root fodder harvesting requires less work than sugar beet harvesting,
since root fodders are composed primarily of plants whose roots are above the
soil and can be easily pulled out by hand. Cleaning root fodders is also
easier since the roots are very thick and the food value of roots and leaves
is almost the same. This makes careful cleaning by hand unnecessary.
50X1-HUM
-3-
CONF'IDENTIAL
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/07/22 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360132-5