Russia—A Fertile Country

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 424, 4 August 1928, Page 27

Russia—A Fertile Country

Gradual Return to Prosperity

Co-operative Effort Favoured

WITH peasant Russia gradually emerging from the chaos which followed the revolution, financial interests are beginning to pay serious attention to the possibility of that country having a large surplus of primary produce to unload on the rest of the world. Already exports of dairy produce from Russia register an increase and although she has had to make heavy importations of wheat during the past six months, it can only be a year or so now when, in normal seasons, she will prove a big competitor to Australia and Canada.

Every year sees an increase in the amount of dairy produce drawn from Russia. Slowly but surely, despite internal unrest and uncertainty, by improved methods and more intensive farming, Russia is building up her butter and cheese business. Her entrance into the world’s wheat markets cannot long be delayed. Famine, disorganisation of transport, and the destruction of Individual enterprise have been factors in the slow recovery of Russian industry, (iradually have those in power come to see the crippling effects of restraint on individual effort, however, and there lias been considerable relaxing of control during the past few years. Although still suspicious and afraid to make any quick forward move the peasantry are gradually realising that they will he permitted to take every advantage of the world’s wheat markets. Once this is fully realised and acted upon there will be a decided and substantial forward move in Russian farming. The Russian farmer is not the ignorant peasant he was in the days before the revolution. The presence of cooperative farming organisations are now encouraged. They buy farm machinery and sell produce, but if greater expansion is wanted it would appear that greater freedom is essential. This will come in time, and already it seems that the trend is that way. The direction in which reports lead us to believe most progress is being made is in inducing growers to carry on farming in a wholesale scale upon a collective basis. Organisation in this direction had gone so far that in 1927 the number of co-operative agricultural societies of various kinds was 66,839, and the membership 7,369,000, an increase of approximately 2,000,000 in two years. Every endeavour is being made to induce the peasantry to accept the view that their industry can best be served by specialisation in the production and sale of each branch of agriculture. A feature has been made of what are called collective farms. These are farms in which a number of peasant householders join house, stock and labour to work their holdings. Altogether 240,400 farmers have been induced to follow this method.

Viewing these arrangements, generally, it appears that the greatest relative progress has been made with dairying, but a large increase has also been shown in the purchase of grain from the farmer by the central union, the figures for 1927 being 1,530,000 tons compared with 890,000 tons for the previous year. Russia, combining as it does, Siberia, and the amazingly rich tracts ol country down toward the Black Sea, is too rich a land to be kept down.

Every day, despite unfavourable internal economic conditions, her people are becoming more enlightened. Today, also, a new generation is growing up, a generation freed from the domination of the overlord, and able to seek and speak for itself. Everything points to the fact that the day is not far distant when she will wield an appreciable influence on the world’s markets. As yet, the New Zealand producer has not been affected. The trend, however, should be watched with interest.