USSR: Measures of Economic Growth and Development, 1950-80

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Appendix C
USSR: lntrasector Use of Agricultural
Output
A. Estimates of Grain and Potatoes Used for Seed
Sown Area. Quantities of grain and potatoes needed
for seed are derived by multiplying estimated seeding
rates by sown area. Table C-1 shows the area sown to
grain and potatoes in 1950-79. Except for winter
wheat, winter rye, and winter barley, sown area
statistics for grain and potatoes are taken from offi-
cial Soviet handbooks as follows:
1979 Vest stat, no. 10, p. 74; Narkhoz I979, pp. 244-
245.
1978: Narkhoz I978, pp. 218-219.
1977: Narkhoz I977, pp. 226-227.
1976 Vest stat, no. 3, 1978, p. 83.
1965, 1970-75: Narkhoz I975, pp. 347, 353-355. See
also Selkhoz I971, pp. 120-123; Vest stat, no. 4,
1977, p. 84; Vest stat, no. 5, 1976, p. 86; Vest stat, no.
5, 1975, p. 92; Vest stat, no. 10, 1974, p. 87.
1960, 1966-69: Selkhoz I971, pp. 109-111, 116-123,
127, 133. .
1963-64: Narkhoz I965, pp. 284, 296-297, 299-301,
305; and Selkhoz I971, p. 109.
1961-62: Narkhoz I962, pp. 258-260; Selkhoz I971,
pp. 108-109; Narkhoz I964, p. 284..
1950, 1953-59: Selkhoz I960, pp. 132-133, presents
data for all crops except spring rye. Area sown to corn
for silage and green fodder was derived by subtracting
the area for fully ripe corn from total area sown to
corn. Spring rye data are from Posevnyye ploshchadi
SSSR, vol. 1, Moscow, 1957, p. 7. An arbitrary
estimate of spring rye production was added to official
statistics for winter rye production in 1957 and 1959.
1951-52: Posevnyye ploshchadi SSSR, vol. I, Mos-
nearly comparable to harvested area than to sown
area. The official statistics understate total sown area
by the number of hectares that were sown the pre-
vious fall but subsequently were lost to winterkill or
used for early spring grazing. As a result, official
statistics on area sown to winter wheat, winter rye and
winter barley must be augmented by estimates of area
sown in the fall but not occupied by winter grain at
the completion of spring planting. Total area sown in
the fall is estimated from information in the Soviet
press. Reports of sown area are made at weekly
intervals from September through late October.”
Area sown as reported by the press is larger than that
reported in the handbooks by the number of hectares
winterkilled or used for early grazing. Table C-2
shows our estimates of a‘rea sown to winter grain after
the adjustment for winterkill and early grazing.
Seeding rates. The quantity of grain used for seed is
estimated by multiplying the sown area figures shown
in table C-1 by seeding rates per.hectare. Seeding
rates for the USSR as a whole (table C-3) are
weighted averages of seeding rates in each republic.
Within republics, seeding rates were compiled for
each oblast, and these seeding rates were weighted
with 1965 sown area from Soviet statistical hand-
books without the adjustment for area lost to winter-
kill and early grazing. Theseeding rates are for ‘
sowings of first-class seed, which must meet the
criteria of 99 percent purity and 95 percent viability.
The seeding rate for potatoes of 19 centners per
hectare is reported in S.A. ll’in, Ekonomika pr0iz-
cow, 1957, pp. 7, 437, 453, 490, 495. See'also volume vodstva kartafelya, Moscow, 1963, pp. 3, 5.
II, p. 192. Figures for rice and corn for silage were
interpolated. '
"‘ For example, SeI'skaya zhizn‘, 4 October 1979, reported that 37
million hectares had been sown to winter grain crops and that this
area amounted to 89 percent of the planned sown area. A weekOfficial Soviet statistics on arfia sown to grain a¢- "
1
later on 12 October, SeI'skaya zhizn'reported that 38.6 million
tually measure the area occupied by sowings at the
completion of spring planting. This definition is more
303
hectares had been sown, 93 percent of plan. _
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