OER CONTRIBUTIONS TO OBGI AGRICULTURE ATLAS OF THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R001900020001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 31
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 28, 2005
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 8, 1974
• Content Type: REPORT

 ,? _ ? App r e s 0 /08/ D 85T0 758001900020001-5
OER Contributions to OBGI Agriculture
USSR Branch
8 March 1974
Approved For Release 2005/08/22 : CIA-RDP85T00875R001900020001-5
 Approved For Release 2005/08/22 : CIA-RDP85T00875R001900020001-5
Agriculture in the Domestic Economy
Agriculture is the weakest and least productive sector
of the Soviet economy. The system of giant collective
and state farms has proved to be the worst managed and
least efficient organizational form in the country. Large
increases in farm gate prices and peasant incomes over
the last decade have slowed the fj..ight of labor from the
farm, but have also raised costs without stimulating efficiency.
In spite of the world's largest inputs of labor and invest-
ment, the USSR is periodically forced into Western markets
for food to provide promised improvements in the diet for
the population.
Agricultural production has a much greater impact on
overall economic performance in the USSR than in the US.
Although the farm sector's contribution to gross national
product (GNP) has fallen rapidly over time, farm output in
the USSR still accounts for more than one-fifth of the
Soviet GNP and employs nearly one-third of the labor force.
In th'. US, on the other hand, agriculture contributes just
3/% of GNP and employs only 5% of the labor force. The
share of the labor force employed in agriculture has dropped
in both countries, but at a much slower rate in the USSR
than in the US.
Approved For Release 2005/08/22 : CIA-RDP85T00875R001900020001-5
 Approved For Release 2005/08/22 : CIA-RDP85T00875R001900020001-5
(In Percent)
1950 1960 1971
United United United
States U.S.S.R. States U.S.S.R. States U.S.S.R.
Agriculture's -
share of GNP
5.5
38.4
4.5
29.4
3.5
22.4
Agriculture's
share of
labor force
15.3
54.0
9.8
42.1
5.1
29.3
Of all sectors. --.of the American and Soviet economies,
agriculture offers one of the greatest.contrasts in terms
of organization and efficiency. Although American agricul-
ture contributes a relatively small proportion of US GNP,
the US provides large quantities of food for the domestic
and foreign markets.
The USSR, on the other hand, still has
not managed to produce the quantity and quality of farm
products desired by its population. On balance, the Soviet
Union is a net importer of agricultural commodities, and
has spent enormous sums on programs to boost agricultural
production.
Because food accounts for nearly 50% of total consump-
tion in the USSR and carry-over stocks are generally inade-
quate, fluctuations in farm output greatly affect the Soviet
ability to maintain an uninterrupted rise in the level of
-2-
Approved For Release 2005/08/22 : CIA-RDP85T00875R001900020001-5
4`?'M"`re .'.?."?-r'',l-}r?~? ....--`~.-7--:,~.-.m.r~yrr~!-,.a^,~~%, ,-.!~.',-?*~^~nc.?'~/~-..?.!i`,~^+att~a.m,.-Cyn..~.,N....,.,a~`...r#r.a?r^.'m'-,--.,-..re,~-.:.~~~.:..a'.i'ri^'a.s.rac4!