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Revival of Crimean Horticulture and Viticulture (1954–1958)

After the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine in 1954, the Ukrainian leadership embarked on a course to revive Crimean horticulture and viticulture, which had fallen into decline during the first post-war decade, setting ambitious five-year plans for expanding plantings.

Overview

After the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine (1954), the Ukrainian leadership embarked on a course to revive Crimean horticulture and viticulture, which had fallen into decline. In the first post-war decade (prior to the transfer), russian settlers failed to master southern agriculture; the area of commercial orchards and vineyards sharply decreased, and yields fell below 20–25 centners/ha. Ukraine, by contrast, set ambitious goals for restoring the sector during 1954–1958.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Decline in the first post-war decade: settlers from deep inside russia did not adapt to hot and arid Crimea and failed to master southern agriculture; Crimean orchards and vineyards turned into thickets and deadwood, the area of commercial plantings shrank severalfold, and yields did not exceed 20–25 centners/ha (the productivity level of a single old Sari Sinap apple tree).
  • Motivation for transferring Crimea to Ukraine: Kremlin leaders believed that only the transfer to Ukraine could save the declining Crimea; Nikita Khrushchev linked the revival of Crimean horticulture and viticulture to the industrious Ukrainian people (his quote: only Ukrainians, who love orchards and vineyards, are capable of reviving Crimea).
  • Moscow report to Kyrychenko (January 1954): in early January 1954, Moscow provided the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPU, Oleksiy Kyrychenko, with a report on the catastrophic state of agriculture in the Crimean Oblast (still part of the RSFSR) — a justification of the need for changes.
  • Letter from Kalchenko and Kyrychenko to the USSR Council of Ministers (April 1954): as early as the beginning of April 1954, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR Nykyfor Kalchenko and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPU Oleksiy Kyrychenko addressed the USSR Council of Ministers and the CC CPSU with a letter "On the necessity of carrying out special measures for the restoration of agriculture, cities, and resorts of the Crimean Oblast".
  • Draft resolution on commercial orchards: the draft resolution "On measures for further development of agriculture, cities, and resorts of the Crimean Oblast" envisaged an annual increase in commercial orchard area by 10–12 thousand hectares — almost quadrupling in 5 years (for comparison: in 1940 the figure was only 12.3 thousand hectares, and during the post-war decade it shrank by several thousand hectares).
  • Resettlement and personnel: under the state program for populating Crimea, it was planned to resettle about 20 thousand families from Ukraine; to train specialists, starting in 1954, enrollment was increased at the agricultural school under the Crimean Horticulture Station, the Yalta Agricultural Technical School, and the Faculty of Fruit Growing and Viticulture of the Crimean Agricultural Institute (where management training courses were also introduced).
  • Viticulture (1954–1958 plan): Ukraine set the goal of planting 10,500 hectares of new vineyard plantations over 5 years (1954–1958) (almost double existing ones; in 1953 there were only 7.1 thousand hectares compared to 9+ thousand hectares in 1940, and yield had dropped from 355 centners/ha to 20 centners/ha), reconstructing 1,975 hectares of existing plantings, and repairing almost 10,000 hectares of thinned-out plantations; due to a shortage of local planting material, almost 6 million saplings were planned to be imported from Central Asia.